Chapter 896: Three-Phase Soul Separation Art

After saying this, he noticed the weakness of the crowd and couldn't help but feel overjoyed!

Immediately afterward, paying no heed to the shock on everyone's faces, he swiftly formed hand seals!

At the same moment, a dazzling golden light appeared around Zhou Tianhan, Wang Jizhou, and Zhou Xuan!

Their appearances were completely obscured by the light, leaving only faint outlines.

The lights intertwined, resonating with one another, and began merging at a speed visible to the naked eye!

"This is... the Three-Phase Soul Division Art?"

Jiang Beixuan's eyes flashed.

Drawing on the accumulated experience from his previous timeline, he instantly saw through the opponent's true capabilities.

The Three-Phase Soul Division Art was a special divine ability comprehended by an ancient Great Sage in order to break through to the Quasi-Emperor realm!

Once activated, it could split one's primordial spirit into three, each to be housed in a different body.

If one devoured the original host's true spirit, one could even master everything about them—their cultivation, techniques, constitution, comprehension of artistic conception, and more!

However, this art was far from perfect, harboring significant flaws.

The primordial spirit could only be split once, and once divided, the power of the remaining two portions would plummet.

If detected midway by the original host, it would be all too easy for them to turn the tables and kill the intruder.

Only by striking when the host was vulnerable could there be any chance of success.

Beyond that, there existed another fatal flaw.

If one ultimately performed the Three-Phase Reunion, merging the three bodies together to forcefully break through to a higher realm with overwhelming power...

Then any future attempt to break through realms would become unimaginably difficult.

One might spend an entire lifetime unable to advance even a single minor realm.

At the same time, because two true spirits had been devoured, one would be rejected by the rules of heaven and earth, making it extremely difficult to comprehend the laws of the world.

Therefore, even if one forcibly broke through to Sagehood through this art, one would still be among the weakest of that tier.

But crushing those at the Heavenly Man realm would still pose no problem.

"I never expected that this Zhou Tianhan would have such a fortuitous encounter to obtain this art. Although once successful, his path forward will be utterly blocked, within this small dynasty, dominating as king would not be difficult..."

In the span of a single breath, Jiang Beixuan had figured everything out.

He silently raised his head and looked toward Jiang Chen: "Although the Emperor Armament is powerful, it is limited by cultivation and cannot unleash its true might. Using it against a Sage would be even more difficult. I wonder if the clan leader left behind any other contingencies?"

Jiang Beixuan's thoughts churned.

At this moment, under the gaze of everyone present, the three figures had completely merged into one!

His aura surged along with it, reaching an utterly terrifying level!

Soon, the light faded, revealing his true appearance.

He was a middle-aged man clad in a golden robe.

His features were unmistakably those of Zhou Tianhan.

Not only his appearance, but even his physique had not changed in the slightest.

Yet his pupils had turned purple, radiating a divine, sacred brilliance!

He stood with his hands behind his back, treading upon the empty air, resembling an ancient deity—lofty and supreme, gazing down upon the mortal world!

Purple flames burned around him, transforming into massive, scale-covered azure dragons that arched protectively about him, as though guarding their sovereign!

Now, he had reached the absolute peak of the Heavenly Man realm. With but a single thought, he could summon the Sage Tribulation!

Witnessing this, the Heavenly Sword Ancestor's heart jolted: "Purple Flame Imperial Physique?"

The moment these words left his lips, Jiang Yan instantly thought of something.

"Imperial Physique..."

He recalled that on the day Zhou Xuan was born, heaven had displayed strange omens, suggesting she possessed an Imperial Physique.

Now, seeing this, he knew the rumors had been true.

At this moment, feeling the surging, overwhelming power within him, Zhou Tianhan smiled and said: "Indeed! Xuan'er's strength was too weak—she originally wasn't qualified to become one of my Three-Phase vessels. But this girl happened to possess an Imperial Physique, making her an ideal vessel. Naturally, I wouldn't let such an opportunity slip by..."

Once the Three-Phase Soul Division Art was used to forcibly step into the Sage realm, it would sever one's future path and make comprehending the laws impossible.

He naturally had to seek other methods, using an overwhelmingly powerful physique to bolster his own strength.

The Imperial Physique was one such method, and so was the Sword Saint realm.

As Zhou Tianhan's voice fell, a chill ran through the hearts of everyone present.

To claim a daughter's life for the sake of a single physique—

How utterly vicious was this man's nature?

Zhou Tianhan paid no heed to the contempt on everyone's faces.

As though showing off his own masterpiece, he muttered to himself: "In order to better control this body, I spent day and night refining secret medicines and fed them to her for over a decade. And to make it easier for me to take over, before the Imperial Physique fully awakened, I used secret arts to seal it. Originally, everything should have progressed smoothly..."

At this point, his voice paused slightly.

He slowly turned his head to look at Jiang Yan.

His voice suddenly turned ice-cold: "Originally, I could have plotted slowly, waiting for Xuan'er to gradually grow stronger before taking over—there was no need to rush at all. But you, you damned little brat, actually dared to kill Yan'er and steal the Eight-Treasure Centipede I had planted!"

"Without that medicine, I cannot draw out the Imperial Physique's full potential, and my perfect plan has been marred by flaws!"

"Tell me, how should I kill you?"

In an instant, purple flames blazed across the sky, emanating wave after wave of terrifying, heart-palpitating aura!

Jiang Yan's face suddenly turned pale. His lips moved slightly as he prepared to speak under the crushing pressure.

But a dark shadow swiftly stepped in front of him.

He raised his head and looked closely.

It was none other than his clansman, Jiang Chen!

"Chen-ge..."

Jiang Chen held the Haotian Mirror in his left hand and the Bahuang Sword in his right, raised his head high, and shouted loudly at Zhou Tianhan: "If you want to harm the people of my Jiang clan, then you'll have to step over my corpse first!"

His face was resolute, his gaze like a torch, utterly ignoring the other's oppressive aura, without a trace of fear to speak of!

"Hahaha! What gall!"

"Jiang Chen, I truly admire you more and more. What a pity you're not my son—otherwise, the position of Young Valley Master of the Medicine King Valley would surely be yours..."

Jiang Chen curled his lip and jeered: "Heh, using sons to breed medicine, using daughters' bodies for use—a beast like you is worthy of having offspring?!"

The smile on Zhou Tianhan's face abruptly froze.

His eyes narrowed slightly, and a fierce glint suddenly flashed through his pupils!

"Seeking death!"

Zhou Tianhan let out a furious roar, then struck out with a palm!

Vast, boundless elemental force merged with the power of heaven and earth, forming a terrifying palm-shadow that blotted out the sky!

The palm-shadow, carrying an overwhelmingly domineering momentum, slammed toward the Xuanfeng, intending to wipe out everyone aboard!

In his heart, he truly loathed these disgustingly irksome flies to the extreme!

Not far away, the Heavenly Sword Ancestor, watching this scene, had his pupils contract.

He wanted to squeeze out every last bit of strength remaining in his body to block this strike for the others.

However, his utterly exhausted body made him a beat too slow; he could only watch helplessly as the palm-shadow drew closer and closer to Jiang Zhiwei and the others.

Grief and fury filled the Heavenly Sword Ancestor's heart, yet he was powerless to do anything, and could only let out a heart-wrenching roar of rage!

But the next moment, he suddenly froze.

He saw the palm-shadow abruptly halt in midair, losing all movement.

Could it be that he had stopped his hand?

The Heavenly Sword Ancestor instinctively felt he couldn't dare believe it.

But immediately after, an utterly flat, unremarkable voice suddenly rang out: