Chapter 552: Hunter King Bow

"Alien beasts and human Law Lords attacking me together? Clearly all under soul control…"

"So it's the Insect Law Lord…"

Beyond the Heavy Water Realm, Fang Xing watched calmly as the Blood Wen Golden Beast Emperor was surrounded and exploded in fury, dissolving into specks of golden light.

Even with the enhancement of Panwu Great Dao, the Blood Wen Golden Beast Emperor was merely at the third-rank Law Lord level—facing such a siege, death was inevitable.

But Fang Xing didn't care; it was just bait to begin with.

After observing for so long, he had roughly estimated the strength of these Law Lords and the power behind the Insect Law Lord.

At this moment, he smiled lightly and stepped into the Heavy Water Realm.

"This human Law Lord… is incredibly confident!"

Hidden behind sheets of extreme-cold heavy water, the mantis insectoid's compound eyes flickered slightly, sending out a soul wave: "Formation Three!"

Swish-swish-swish!

The Heavy Water Realm suddenly surged, layers of water pressing down.

Moreover, over a dozen Law Lords in the void joined forces, activating a battle array technique.

Threads of law energy intertwined and shaped themselves… into a strange butterfly!

This dazzling butterfly had form but no substance; its wings fluttered once, turning into a streak of light that plunged into Fang Xing's consciousness.

"Soul attack?"

Fang Xing's blood-red robe trembled slightly, then he acted as if nothing had happened, raising his right palm.

Hummm!

A sun, indescribable in nature, rose behind him.

This sun seemed to stand above infinite time and space, beyond any color to depict.

Then, the sun condensed into the Great Sun Tathagata Divine Lord, one palm descending to crush down.

Boom!

The radiance of the sun engulfed the entire Heavy Water Realm, instantly evaporating the chill.

Then…

One by one, the Law Lords were flung backward, their law bodies seemingly burned, instantly falling into critical injury!

"Bad!"

"At least a peak fourth-rank Law Lord… possibly even fifth-rank!"

The hidden mantis Law Lord's expression turned grim; it immediately flapped its wings and retreated backward.

Even the Heavy Water Realm, a precious artifact, was abandoned.

"You all fight to the death to buy me time."

As the mantis insectoid fled, it issued orders to its slaves.

After giving this command, its heart bled—but it comforted itself: 'As long as I live, there's still hope…'

On its body, a dark energy surfaced.

This was the insectoid's unique 'Dark Energy,' innate to their mastery of the 'Dark Energy Law,' granting them many strange abilities.

For example… Dark Energy Teleportation!

Under the cover of Dark Energy, the mantis insectoid's form turned ethereal, ready to teleport through the Dark Realm.

But this faint fluctuation had already been caught by Fang Xing.

Roar! Roar!

Law runes coalesced into a black dragon, striking once to annihilate the two-headed leopard alien beast Law Lord.

Fang Xing's eyes held a faint smile as he glanced at the battlefield: "Oh? Trying to flee?"

He pressed his brow, and suddenly a Destroying Demon Wolf mental image appeared.

This Destroying Demon Wolf had lively eyes, strange white spots on its pupils, and its body blazed with black Destroying Fire.

It ran on all fours through the void, diving into the mantis insectoid's forehead!

"Soul attack?"

"Useless—I insectoids excel at soul, and I have artifacts to protect me…"

The mantis insectoid's compound eyes had just flashed a hint of mockery when suddenly all color vanished, Dark Energy collapsed, and its massive corpse plummeted from midair.

Splash!

As the mantis insectoid was the master of slaves, upon its death, all its Law Lord slaves suddenly lost their life force, falling like cut wheat.

"I take!"

Fang Xing raised his hand and collected the corpses and artifacts of the Law Lords.

Only then did he approach the insectoid Law Lord's corpse, studying it: "So it's from the Mantis Clan…"

Among insectoids, subspecies vary wildly—the Mantis Clan is actually among the better ones.

"This insectoid's strength is also around fourth-rank Law Lord level; otherwise it wouldn't dare directly block a passage and set a trap…"

"I used my mental image attack only to slightly delay it… never expected it to die outright."

Fang Xing was pleasantly surprised.

The sharpness of True Soul attacks exceeded his expectations.

"Hmm, war really does bring quick profits…"

Moments later, Fang Xing gazed at the three precious artifacts before him, a satisfied expression on his face.

Of the three, one was a pool of emerald-blue water—the 'Heavy Water Realm'—it could unfold directly, releasing countless chilling water streams to hinder enemies, and also assist in soul attacks.

Another was a tattered scroll named the 'Miti Map,' capable of protecting the mind and resisting soul attacks, even some will-based assaults.

With the Miti Map's protection and the insectoid's innate soul talent, the mantis insectoid wouldn't fear even a fifth-rank Law Lord soul master.

But it had the misfortune of encountering Fang Xing. Still, Fang Xing cared little for these two artifacts; what he truly valued was the final one—the offensive artifact.

"Hunter King Bow?"

In Fang Xing's hand, a black great bow materialized.

Its design was monstrous, as if imprisoning an alien beast within its body, its arms twisted into bow limbs.

As Fang Xing lightly plucked the string, it trembled faintly, faint roars and wails echoing from within.

"This is an artifact specifically designed to enhance soul attacks… drawing the string amplifies one's soul attack power, and has some effect on will-based secret arts…"

"Perhaps I can use it to unleash True Soul attacks?"

In Fang Xing's view, the precious artifacts of the Great Xia world were similar to the 'Imperial Weapons' of the Qingyuan Great Realm—both suited for Law Lord combat.

But there were still distinctions of rank.

Blood Yuan Mountain, for instance, was an upper-grade precious artifact.

The Heavy Water Realm was mediocre—lower to mid-grade.

The Miti Map could defend against soul attacks, its trait highly useful, barely qualifying as upper-grade.

This final artifact, the 'Hunter King Bow,' could be called an 'Ultimate-grade Precious Artifact!'

"With the Hunter King Bow's amplification, combined with Panwu Great Dao, my will attacks might threaten a fifth-rank Law Lord… if I use True Soul attacks, perhaps one arrow could annihilate?"

Fang Xing, delighted, traced his fingers over the black scales on the Hunter King Bow's body; after slight refinement, more information surfaced: "This Ultimate-grade artifact, when drawn, automatically manifests three types of arrows… First, the 'Heavenly Wolf Arrow,' enabling Law Lords unskilled in soul attacks to fire piercing soul arrows…"

Fang Xing happily ran his fingers over the black scales on the Hunter King Bow's shaft; after a slight refinement, more information surfaced: "This supreme treasure, once drawn, automatically manifests three types of arrows… The first is 'Heavenly Wolf Arrow,' enabling even masters unskilled in soul attacks to fire piercing soul arrows…"

"Third, the 'Sun-Extinguishing Arrow,' a will-based attack arrow…"

"Now that it's in my hands, I must develop a True Soul Arrow myself… my mental image attack was powerful, but its hit speed was too slow…"

"Now it's in my hands, I must develop a True Spirit Arrow myself… The mind-image attack's power goes without saying, but its hit speed is too slow…"

After passing through the Virtual Gold Mountain, Fang Xing rushed straight to the Empty Flow River.

Unlike the Virtual Gold Mountain, the Empty Flow River was a vast 'Space Blade Zone,' with no safe passage whatsoever.

To pass through, one must carefully avoid every blade.

"This Empty Flow River… my cultivation avatar would have a huge advantage here."

Fang Xing stood at the edge of a space river, gazing at the dense silver blades within, murmuring to himself.

A single blade, or even dozens, wouldn't trouble a first-rank Law Lord.

But thousands upon thousands of continuous strikes, combined with spatial resonance, demanded avoidance.

But thousands of continuous attacks, combined with spatial resonance, must be avoided.

As Fang Xing observed, he suddenly spotted a chase far away.

The one fleeing ahead was Kun Wu!

Behind him, chasing relentlessly, was a creature entirely composed of magma.

"An energy lifeform—a third-rank alien beast Law Lord?"

"In this Ashen Secret Realm, the Tai Xu Stone cannot connect to the Tai Xu Universe—indeed inconvenient…"

Seeing Kun Wu's disheveled state, Fang Xing directly transmitted a voice: "Kun Wu, come this way…"

Fang Xing, seeing Kun Wu's disheveled state, transmitted a voice message: "Brother Kun Wu, come this way…"

Kun Wu's eyes lit up upon seeing Fang Xing and immediately flew toward him.

Yet the magma energy lifeform behind him, upon seeing Fang Xing, didn't retreat—it accelerated further.

The lava-energy lifeform chasing behind him, upon seeing Fang Xing, did not retreat—instead, it accelerated again.

Fang Xing drew the Hunter King Bow; Panwu Great Dao instantly descended, causing the arrow to glow faintly as it coalesced into a crimson arrow.

Fang Xing drew the Hunter King Bow; the power of Panwu Dao instantly descended, causing the arrow to glow softly as it coalesced into a crimson arrow.

"Sun-Extinguishing Arrow!"

He released his grip, and the Sun-Extingishing Arrow shot forth, striking the Lava Dharmic Lord directly!

This time, Fang Xing did not unleash any True Spirit attack—only infused his own Martial Will.

In the next instant, the Lava Energy Lifeform was struck by the Sun-Extingishing Arrow and let out a shriek of agony.

Kun Wu turned back, and in a daze, he thought he saw a great sun fall and instantly extinguish.

After the great sun extinguished, the Lava Lifeform had lost all vitality, reduced to a corpse.

"Brother Fang… you…"

Kun Wu, witnessing this, could not help but widen his eyes.

"Lucky to obtain a supreme treasure suited to myself… now, I must have entered the Fourth-Rank Dharmic Lord realm…"

Fang Xing smiled and explained briefly, then stepped forward to collect the spoils.

Kun Wu had good sense—he knew he had contributed nothing, and felt too embarrassed to approach for a share.

"I never expected… Brother Fang has already ascended to Fourth-Rank Dharmic Lord! Now you could likely climb into the top two hundred of the Starry Sky Rankings—no, even the top one hundred!"

Kun Wu let out a bitter laugh: "I probably overestimated myself entering this secret realm… Regardless, thank you—if I'd been killed, even if I could revive, I'd have been buried under crushing debts…"

"What are your plans next? We're heading the same way—shall we journey together to the Ash Continent?"

Fang Xing asked.

"The Empty Flow River is still too dangerous for me…"

Kun Wu hesitated: "Originally… I thought I'd only perfected one Law, hadn't touched the power of the Dao, and had high malleability—so I came to try my luck. But now I'm awake: without strength, no matter how malleable I am, the legacy won't fall to me. I won't trouble you further—I'll leave now."

Watching Kun Wu's retreating back, Fang Xing felt an inexplicable melancholy—and also admiration.

Sometimes, maintaining self-awareness while standing in glory is no easy thing.

(End of Chapter)