Chapter 57 I Might Be Your Father

"Come on, let me see what you're truly capable of."

Morro beckoned to Mo Xuanyu with a slight wave.

"The cursed spirits in the Upside-Down World only know how to run away the moment they see me. I hope you can give me a fight to remember."

The corners of Morro's lips curved upward into an excited, eager smile, his deep blue eyes as fathomless as an abyss. Having just observed Mo Xuanyu's entire battle against those papal spellcasters, he was immensely intrigued by Mo Xuanyu's power.

Ever since his death and subsequent fusion with the Blade of Breaking Demons, Morro had existed as something neither entirely human nor entirely spirit. Uninterested in the affairs of the real world, he had spent his days drifting aimlessly through the Upside-Down World.

A similar entity was the "Executioner" Victor, though Victor had lost all reason the moment he became a non-human entity, completely assimilated by the great executioner's cleaver.

Morro, however, still retained his consciousness and mind.

Yet, as time flowed on, Morro's consciousness would inevitably fade away bit by bit, reducing him to a mindless walking corpse. Therefore, the very moment Kong Ling awakened, Morro voluntarily chose to become the vessel for Kong Ling. He desperately craved one hearty, unrestrained battle before his consciousness completely perished.

Either he would kill all spellcasters who came to seize Kong Ling, or he would be killed by them himself.

Those were the only two possible outcomes.

The battle between them erupted in an instant. Mo Xuanyu closed the distance in a flash, appearing right in front of Morro as the Nightmare Moon in his hand slashed out a dark, phantom arc.

"Not bad speed." Morro leaned backward to dodge the incoming blade, planted a single hand on the ground for leverage, and delivered a swift, powerful straight kick straight to Mo Xuanyu's chest.

Boom!!

The tremendous force, combined with Level 30 Hand-to-Hand Combat Mastery, sent Mo Xuanyu flying backward through the air.

Mo Xuanyu adjusted his posture mid-air, but before he could even steady himself upon landing, Morro was already upon him, wielding the Hundred Years' War.

It was a simple yet ferocious direct thrust!

Mo Xuanyu sidestepped the thrust just in time; the tip of the blade momentarily warped the very space behind him.

"Quick reflexes too."

Morro's fighting spirit soared even higher. Seamlessly transitioning his stance, he swept the Hundred Years' War toward Mo Xuanyu's neck.

Expecting Mo Xuanyu to retreat from this move, Morro was met with the exact opposite: Mo Xuanyu stepped forward instead of back, blocking the strike head-on with Nightmare Moon.

At long last, Morro's expression turned slightly solemn. He leaped backward to widen the distance, looking down at the Hundred Years' War in his hand.

With his vast experience, he instantly deduced that Nightmare Moon possessed the ability to corrode other weapons.

"Roughly speaking, even the Hundred Years' War will likely shatter after a hundred clashes."

Morro's gaze locked onto the blade of Nightmare Moon in Mo Xuanyu's hand.

While Morro was calculating his countermeasure, Mo Xuanyu used the opening to harvest the blood souls of the fallen papal spellcasters.

He distributed the blood souls proportionally; for his next ten attacks, every single strike would deal an additional 10 points of true damage, totaling one hundred points.

The reason he chose to scatter the blood souls was his assessment that he stood no chance of hitting Morro's vital points to secure a one-hit kill.

His own Hand-to-Hand Combat Mastery was only Level 1, while Morro's was a staggering Level 30. The immense gap between them meant the opponent would not reveal a single opening.

Therefore, Mo Xuanyu's strategy was to first utilize the true damage extracted from the spellcasters' blood souls. While suppressing Morro's offensive, he would weave soul chains capable of binding the opponent.

As long as the soul chains were successfully forged, victory would be within his grasp.

The speed of their exchange reached absolute extremes.

By the time Mo Xuanyu delivered the tenth strike laden with true damage, the surrounding area had been reduced to a wasteland, and he had finally completed the forging of the soul chains.

"Hmm?"

Morro noticed the chains wrapping tightly around his wrists.

Failing to break free immediately, Morro flexed his arms:

"Looks like I really need to get serious."

With a sweep of his hand across the Hundred Years' War, he allowed his own blood to saturate the blade.

"Watch closely. This is the true way to wield the Hundred Years' War."

A nostalgic look crossed Morro's eyes. It had been a very long time since he last experienced such an exhilarating battle.

As cursed power surged into the weapon, Morro swung his arm to unleash a blue sword qi, condensed purely from the cursed power within his body.

This was the true power of the Hundred Years' War: it could compress the user's cursed power intensity to a terrifying degree before releasing it outward.

The previous papal spellcaster could only unleash a wide-area breath attack because his manipulation of cursed power lacked precision.

In contrast, Morro's mastery of cursed power precision had once been hailed as the strongest in the entire spellcasting world.

The flying sword qi closed the distance to Mo Xuanyu in the blink of an eye, its lethality far surpassing that of the papal spellcaster's attack.

Yet Mo Xuanyu seemed to find inspiration within it. He gripped the hilt of Nightmare Moon tightly with both hands, watching the reflection of the approaching sword qi grow larger in his pupils.

What on earth was sword qi?

His foundational skill, "Heart of the Blade," operated at lightning speed like a supercomputer, providing Mo Xuanyu with the answer.

Holding his breath and centering his mind, he channeled all his mental energy into the blade, infusing it entirely with his willpower.

Mo Xuanyu slashed Nightmare Moon forward fiercely.

Swish!

A pitch-black blade glare erupted instantly from the edge of Nightmare Moon, moving at a speed that vastly outpaced Morro's blue sword qi.

The moment they collided, Morro's deep blue sword qi was shattered directly into fragments.

"No way?!"

Morro had no time for astonishment; he hurriedly raised the Hundred Years' War to block the incoming blade glare as the ground beneath his feet splintered apart.

With a sharp snap, the blade glare was successfully intercepted, but a prominent notch appeared along the edge of the Hundred Years' War.

This was entirely thanks to Nightmare Moon's corrosive trait.

[Sacred Geometry: You have successfully comprehended a Blade Art derivative skill through your talent. Please name it.]

"Eclipse."

[Naming successful.]

Derivative Skill:
Eclipse: Channels mental energy and willpower to slash forward an extremely fast crescent-shaped blade glare possessing corrosive properties. This skill simultaneously inflicts your personal blood soul damage.

Mo Xuanyu felt in peak condition. This moment of sudden enlightenment felt as satisfying as solving a stubborn math problem late into the night after puzzling over it all afternoon.

He loved this feeling.

"Thank you for the help." Mo Xuanyu offered Morro a smile.

Without Morro's demonstration, he truly might not have grasped the method for projecting blade qi so quickly.

Hearing this, Morro glanced at the notch on the Hundred Years' War and shook his head with a helpless smile. "Never thought I'd run into a blade-art genius out here. Talk about bad luck."

Despite his words, Morro felt genuinely glad, sensing that Mo Xuanyu possessed the genuine potential to kill him.

Just as the two were preparing to escalate their duel, however, the surrounding space suddenly plunged into absolute pitch blackness.

A heavy, ragged panting echoed from the darkness.

Growl... Growl...

A towering figure stepped out from the shadows.

It was the "Executioner" Victor!

Sensing that the king was in danger, he had rushed over to defend his sovereign.

"It's this unkillable pest again."

Morro felt utterly helpless toward Victor as well. This fellow possessed an absurdly massive health pool, and even if killed, he would inevitably crawl back to his feet after a short while.

"Have you already obtained the Royal Necklace? Otherwise, why would this thing come to protect you?" he asked Mo Xuanyu.

Mo Xuanyu shrugged. "The Royal Necklace is indeed with me, but I certainly can't control his bloodlust."

Victor charged furiously toward Morro without hesitation. Tossing the Hundred Years' War aside, Morro completely unleashed his full power.

A short blade, roughly the length of a forearm, appeared in his hand—pitch black in color and sharply honed.

This was the genuine, original Blade of Breaking Demons.

Mid-charge, Victor activated his Executioner Domain, instantly pulling Morro into its depths.

Mo Xuanyu was abruptly relegated to an outsider.

He blinked, walking over to the discarded Hundred Years' War left behind by Morro, and picked up the rusted, crack-ridden longsword.

The Nightmare Moon in his right hand vibrated slightly, as though eager to devour this weapon.

Seeing this, Mo Xuanyu released his grip on the left hand, and the fractured longsword instantly crumbled apart.

Countless blade fragments were drawn in like asteroids by a gravitational pull, entirely absorbed and devoured by Nightmare Moon.

Surprised, Mo Xuanyu hadn't expected Nightmare Moon to possess such a hidden function.

[Sacred Geometry: Your weapon "Nightmare Moon" has advanced to Purple quality. Information has been updated.]

[Your weapon characteristics have changed.]

"Nightmare Moon"
Classification: Melee Weapon
Description: Forged by the master smith Cain, its raw material is an extraordinary core formed with an extremely low probability after the destruction of a Tier 2 stellar world. Extremely precious!
Rank: Blue Special Rare → Purple
Rating: S+ → A+
Weapon Characteristic "Sharpness": Blade sharpness +150%, derivative skill damage +30%. (Newly added characteristic)
Weapon Characteristic "Corrosion": Takes effect on all equipment of Purple rank and below, permanently reducing their hardness and durability upon impact. (Original characteristic enhanced)
Weapon Effect "Feast": Nightmare Moon can undergo adaptive evolution by absorbing high-rank, high-rating weapons while retaining its blade extension function. (Characteristic evolved)

The sudden upgrade of Nightmare Moon came as a completely pleasant surprise to Mo Xuanyu.

One had to realize that the gap between a Purple weapon and a Blue weapon was immense.

Usually, Chosen Ones only encountered Purple weapons upon reaching Tier 3 or even Tier 4, yet he had just advanced to Tier 2!

Boom!!

The Executioner Domain deployed by Victor suddenly suffered a violent shockwave, followed by the domain shattering directly apart.

His massive body was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing through the adjacent residential building and smashing through countless walls.

Amidst a flickering shadow, Morro lunged toward Mo Xuanyu, a bone-deep wound now marring his chest as his blue eyes radiated chilling intent.

Clang!!

The initial collision between the Blade of Breaking Demons and Nightmare Moon generated a terrifying clash of energy.

The former was designed to break all defenses, while the latter was designed to decay all equipment below Purple rank—truly a matchup of trump card against trump card.

Failing to land the strike, both parties stepped back. Morro wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Interesting. Did your cursed item just absorb the Hundred Years' War?"

Just as Morro readied himself to resume the attack, his foot suddenly stepped onto something on the ground.