Chapter 2: The Soul-Forging Forbidden Sword

His red hair stood slightly upward, giving his onion-shaped head a somewhat strange appearance. His compact and smooth leather armor seemed unremarkable, but Sorenberg believed it was by no means ordinary—perhaps it had some special functions he couldn’t detect. His seemingly simple face also made him look like an immature youth. If not for the long sword emitting intense energy casually slung over his shoulder, Sorenberg would have been tempted to sweep him aside with a single shot.

However, after seeing that sword at first glance, Sorenberg lost such an impulse. It was an absolutely unique sword—its serrated blade had a strange curved shape, wider at both ends and thinner in the middle, with several small holes. The faint blue light emanating from its tip sent chills down one’s spine. Ordinary people might find the sword peculiar but fail to see its true nature. For a knight like Sorenberg, who had spent years wandering, it was easy to tell: it was a Soul-Forging Sword!

The three small holes in the middle of the sword blade were the Soul-Forging Orifices. It was said that Soul-Forging Swords had a special effect against undead creatures—almost as soon as the sword was raised, the undead lost all combat power. The powerful magic embedded in the sword used a special devouring forbidden curse to absorb the undead’s life force, which could also enhance the sword’s attack power. Though the effect lasted only briefly, even a slight improvement on the battlefield might be enough to change the outcome.

Yet all of this wasn’t very important to Sorenberg. He wasn’t an undead, so he wasn’t afraid of the sword’s effects. But he knew this sword represented a person—Sage Warrior Aristotle. It was the Soul-Forging Sword used by Sage Warrior Aristotle in his youth. When Aristotle reached middle age, he disdained using weapons that relied on the sword itself to amplify power. Its presence in this guy’s hands undoubtedly meant he was Aristotle’s direct disciple.

Aristotle was already an immortal legend in the martial arts of the entire Azure Continent. Aside from another Western martial god, Plato, who was like a meteor streaking across the sky, few dared to compare with him. Although some powerful martial artists in the Northern Alliance refused to acknowledge this fact, Sorenberg knew that great fame always corresponded to real ability. Aristotle’s ability to remain undefeated for decades in the southern part of the continent surely wasn’t something that could be boasted about verbally, nor were his direct disciples mere pretenders.

The dark knight’s spear was lifted slightly, and a faint whistling sound came from the tip of the blade. A thin stream of combat energy pierced the air straight upward from the spear tip. Sorenberg felt comfortable—this was the first time the lord’s unknown magic had been used on him. A surge of power flowed through his body as the enhancement magic strengthened him, raising his defense at least by one level. However, in a duel between masters, such an increase in defense wasn’t very useful; a fatal strike was all too common in such battles.

On the other hand, the potential enhancement spell cast by the lord was quite effective. Sorenberg could clearly sense that his combat energy, which usually only reached level eight, could now easily surpass level nine. This difference in level was enough to allow him to trample countless others underfoot. Although the lord had made it clear that this was only a temporary boost in strength, he also said that the effects were quite significant—allowing him to understand higher-level control laws and greatly enhancing his sensitivity to the outside world, which would be very helpful if he ever tried to reach even higher levels in the future.

Kaiserlen raised his gaze in surprise at his opponent. It had been a long time since he had encountered a worthy rival. Aside from the familiar Slupig, it seemed there were hardly any decent opponents in the entire Southern Central Ocean region. Those so-called strongmen, stuck in their old ways, hid in their fortresses to preserve their superficial dignity and refused to show up. Several times, Kaiserlen had thought about going to the West or North to challenge the strongmen there, but his military duties prevented him from leaving the kingdom for too long. Otherwise, he would really have liked to see how fascinating the outside world was.

At last, a true opponent had appeared before him. The knight’s spear, with its special luster, left Kaiserlen unsure of what material it was made of—definitely nothing ordinary. That was good; his Soul Forging Sword could finally have a worthy rival. Judging from the spear energy emanating from its tip, the opponent had clearly surpassed the stage of releasing combat energy externally. Perfect—a battle without any suspense would be utterly boring and of no help in improving his own martial skills. Kaiserlen certainly didn’t want to face a one-sided, uninteresting fight.

Sorenberg took a deep breath. The faint whistling sound of the knight’s spear vanished instantly as he moved abruptly, replaced by a subsonic rumble like thunder. The air around the spear became hazy and blurred—this was a sign that Sorenberg’s icy combat energy had reached its limit.

With a light step, the distance of over ten meters was shortened as if by mere walking. The knight’s spear, as if guided by his will, suddenly emitted a thunderous roar, creating a massive burst of energy that covered almost the entire two-meter-radius area in a violent gust of force.

The moment Sorenberg drew his spear and stepped forward, Kaiserlen realized this battle was likely to end poorly. The opponent’s method of suppressing the whistling sound from the spear’s blade hadn’t escaped his keen eyes. The rapid changes in air flow around the spear indicated that the opponent’s combat energy was even stronger than he had initially assumed. Moreover, the ability to shorten distances so rapidly shocked Kaiserlen—his opponent wasn’t just a mere warrior but a true knight. Such land-based teleportation skills were only accessible and of interest to knights; ordinary warriors would rather focus on improving their combat energy levels.

A series of fine cracking sounds indicated that something unusual was happening to Kaiserlen’s body—this was a special sign of his unique Sacred Combat Energy at work. Those cracking sounds meant that his entire body’s defensive capacity had risen to an almost indestructible level. Though this was an idealized description, it still showed just how powerful Sacred Combat Energy could be.

Sorenberg, however, had no time to consider other things. His only resolve at that moment was to defeat this opponent, no matter who he was!

The icy combat energy that erupted made the entire arena seem to instantly feel the chill of winter. The temperature in a radius of thirty meters dropped by over ten degrees in an instant, and even the sound of sand and gravel rolling on the ground due to the strong winds sounded particularly crisp.

When the Knight’s Spear was pointed straight at him, Kaiserlen already raised the Soul-Refining Sword. As the blade spun gracefully through the air, a piercing soul howl emerged from its three soul-devouring holes, causing people’s scalps to tingle and their minds to freeze.

A glow appeared at the weakest part of the sword’s blade and quickly spread to both ends. In just one second, the entire Soul-Refining Sword turned into a strange dark-black light band.

The spear’s spinning energy, like falling stars, attacked fiercely, bringing with it icy winds strong enough to freeze a person into a zombie. Zorenberg didn’t want to hold back—this was a fighting final, and it would be better to decide the winner with a single move. Though he didn’t think his devastating technique would achieve the desired result.

The Soul-Refining Sword, accompanied by a soul howl with constantly changing tones, plunged into the massive spinning spear energy. The two powerful winds converged and, in the blink of an eye, collided violently without any obstruction.

A series of sharp, piercing noises that seemed to pierce straight into people’s hearts were unbearably distressing. Zorenberg, attacking from above like an eagle hunting, held the spear in one hand and locked eyes on his opponent below. However, the intense rebound force forced him to use the air currents to reduce the shock, gliding backward several meters before finally landing steadily. The fierce backlash from the Knight’s Spear lingered like a persistent plague, greedily sucking the combat energy from Zorenberg’s hands.

Shocked, Zorenberg never expected his opponent to be able to release the evil spirit trapped in the Soul-Refining Sword in such a short time and even use his own icy combat energy to counterattack through his Knight’s Spear. This truly caught him off guard.

This guy isn’t a good person! Zorenberg wondered why Aristotle, who was known as a martial sage, would have such a disciple who used such vicious tactics from the start. Aristotle possessed the Soul-Refining Sword to deal with those reckless undead, avoiding unnecessary strain on himself, but he had never heard of using trapped undead as a countermeasure.

But that’s fine too, Sorenberg smiled slightly. Since the other party could use methods similar to summoning magic or magic scrolls to deal with him, thereby setting a precedent for revealing this facade, he couldn’t blame himself for adding a few tricks to his combat skills. Let’s see who will laugh last!