Chapter 569: Might of the Demi-Artifact

Chapter 569: The Might of a Semi-Divine Artifact

Following the conclusion of the millennial birthday banquet, the Emerald Prince extended a private invitation to Li Wei to meet in the back garden.

Li Wei was both thoroughly surprised and delighted.

He had been fretting over the lack of opportunity to meet the Emerald Prince alone.

Upon arriving at the back garden, Li Wei noticed two legendary-rank warriors standing guard at the entrance.

It was truly mind-boggling.

That someone could command legendary-rank powerhouses to serve as mere gatekeepers.

Yet, this was the Emerald Prince, a man who had stood at the very pinnacle of imperial power for a thousand years.

Seen in that light, it did not seem so strange after all.

He indeed possessed the status and wealth to match.

As Li Wei walked into the back garden, the two legendary warriors at the gate did not so much as turn their heads.

Without sparing him a single glance, they simply let him pass.

It was as though they deemed it utterly impossible for him to pose any threat to the Emerald Prince.

Stepping into the garden, Li Wei found himself flanked by a riot of brilliant flowers, each blooming in its most magnificent splendor.

He cast a sweeping glance around; the air was thick with a faint, blended floral fragrance.

The scent was singularly peculiar, yet far from unpleasant; once combined, the various aromas instead exuded a strange, aesthetic harmony.

Li Wei noticed that many of these flowers had entirely different blooming seasons.

Some usually bloomed months apart, yet these flowers of disparate seasons were all defying nature to blossom together here.

He sensed a rich aura of life pulsating beneath the garden soil.

This was the power of natural magic.

What sheer extravagance!

To construct an entire garden using natural magic.

Li Wei lamented inwardly, and before he knew it, he had reached the end of the flower beds.

Before him appeared a small pavilion entwined with morning glories and wisteria, where the Emerald Prince stood at the edge, gazing at the sky beyond, lost in unknown thoughts.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, he finally turned around, looking at Li Wei with a face full of amiable smiles.

Seeing the Emerald Prince from such a short distance, Li Wei noted that his appearance was that of a warm, approachable middle-aged man, yet not lacking in majesty.

At first glance, anyone would judge him to be a ruler of profound dignity and benevolence.

Had he not known everything the Emerald Prince had done in his pursuit of longevity, he too would have been deceived by this facade.

The Emerald Prince was by no means a benevolent soul.

Perhaps to the subjects of his Emerald Fief, he might indeed be a kind and gentle ruler.

But in all other aspects, he was absolute in his ruthlessness.

A complex personality seemed to be a common trait among all rulers.

Simply from the fact that the Emerald Prince could maintain his unshakeable position for a thousand years, one could discern his methods.

Without a few iron-fisted measures, he would have likely been toppled long ago.

A thousand years was time enough for a kingdom to rise and fall several times over.

Yet the Emerald Prince had always stood tall at the apex of the human empire, so he could not possibly be as harmless as he appeared on the surface.

Li Wei locked eyes with the Emerald Prince for a moment, then offered a smiling greeting, "I am Li Wei. It is an honor to meet you, Lord Prince."

The Emerald Prince observed Li Wei; his years of reading people told him that the young man before him was no easy mark.

Recalling how the men he had previously dispatched had all been dealt with by Li Wei.

The Emerald Prince still held a deep appreciation for Li Wei's strength.

As for whether Li Wei would pose a threat to him, the Emerald Prince had never even given the matter a thought.

Even if Li Wei could single-handedly slay a high-tier legendary Dragon Hunter.

He still would not believe Li Wei possessed the capability to threaten him.

At most, he was merely a rather brilliant young man.

Over the past millennium, he had encountered countless perilously hazardous situations; the scene before him was nothing by comparison.

Even if Li Wei harbored resentment over the assassination attempts and wished to seek revenge.

The Emerald Prince possessed not a shred of fear.

Looking at Li Wei benignly, the Emerald Prince praised, "A true hero from the youth. In all my thousand years of life, you are the youngest legendary-rank mage I have ever seen."

"How about it? Interested in coming to work for me?"

"If you agree, you will never have to worry about cultivation resources for the rest of your life."

"If you wish, I can even bestow upon you a semi-divine artifact."

The Emerald Prince smiled at Li Wei, offering conditions that were tantalizing beyond measure.

Were it anyone else, it would likely be nigh impossible to refuse the Emerald Prince's terms.

Aligning with the Emerald Prince meant backing oneself against the largest tree in the empire.

Not to mention, the Emerald Prince had promised to cover all future cultivation resources, topped with the gift of a semi-divine weapon.

Li Wei also marveled internally at the Emerald Prince's grandiosity, tossing around semi-divine artifacts so casually.

He said calmly, "The terms Lord Prince offers are so generous; what is the catch?"

The Emerald Prince said nonchalantly, "I heard you have a dragon by your side, a species extinct from this world. If you can bring that dragon here for me to see, just to satisfy my curiosity, you can take all these rewards immediately."

Li Wei sneered in his heart.

To satisfy curiosity—what a laughable excuse he had concocted.

A sudden inspiration struck Li Wei, and he said, "The dragon is not here. If Lord Prince wishes to see her, I can think of a way to help."

The Emerald Prince smiled and asked, "Oh? What do you propose to do?"

Li Wei cast a spell, opening a spatial portal.

Looking at the Emerald Prince, he said, "The dragon is far away. If Lord Prince does not mind, you can take a trip with me."

The Emerald Prince looked at the spatial portal before him, a calculating look appearing in his eyes.

He could not see what lay on the other side of the portal, nor did he know if it was a trap.

After a brief moment, he let out a laugh.

What did it matter if it was a trap? Even if it were, what could it possibly do to him?

The Emerald Prince said with a laugh, "Hahaha, I hope you will not disappoint me."

Having spoken, he did not move.

Five legendary-class professionals strode in from outside.

They had gone ahead through the teleportation gate to scout the situation on the other side.

Li Wei watched silently as these legendary figures walked into the portal, showing not the slightest panic.

After a short while, one of the legendary professionals returned to the garden and said, "Your Highness, there's a golden dragon on the other side of the teleportation gate."

"We've temporarily encountered some powerful enemies and can't get close to that dragon."

Upon hearing this, the Jade Prince revealed a look of delight, gazing at Li Wei with great surprise.

He hadn't expected him to genuinely pledge allegiance.

The Jade Prince smiled gently and patted Li Wei's shoulder, saying, "Well done, you've done well."

With a graceful flick of his luxurious sleeve, he stepped decisively into the teleportation gate without hesitation.

The legendary professional who had returned to report followed closely behind him into the gate.

Deep beneath Haiyuan City's caverns.

The Holy Dragon King stood on a small island, looking at several suddenly appearing human legendary professionals in the distance, revealing an expression of surprise.

"How did humans suddenly appear here?"

Before long, the unexpected appearance of these human legendary professionals caught the attention of the powerful Naga race dwelling in the underground sea.

The group was attacked by a Naga sea beast shaman wielding an eighth-rank sea creature.

Struggling against the assault of the eighth-rank sea beast, they also had to carefully guard against attacks from the Naga sea beast shaman.

One person seized the opportunity to return to the teleportation gate and relayed the news to the Jade Prince.

Upon learning that there really was a dragon lurking on the other side, the Jade Prince immediately stepped into the teleportation gate.

The moment he entered the teleportation gate, it trembled violently, emitting intense spatial fluctuations.

Perceiving these spatial disturbances, the Jade Prince paid them little mind.

He assumed it was just the commotion caused by passing through the spatial teleportation gate.

He raised his hand and released power to stabilize the spatial channel.

Once the spatial passage stabilized again, he passed through its exit and arrived on the other side of the teleportation gate. Upon arriving, he saw a desolate black land stretching before him, with gloomy skies heavy with dark clouds.

No living creatures could be seen on the ground; the entire land exuded an aura of death and desolation.

Frowning slightly, the Jade Prince quickly scanned his surroundings, searching for traces of the dragon.

The legendary professional who emerged from the teleportation gate a step later was instantly stunned upon seeing the scene outside.

The Jade Prince asked, "Where is the dragon?"

The legendary professional looked puzzled and said, "How did it change? This wasn't here before."

Hearing this, the Jade Prince immediately realized something was wrong.

He spun around abruptly to look at the teleportation gate.

It had already shrunk to the size of a fist.

He thrust both hands into the opening of the teleportation gate, attempting to forcibly open it.

With a loud bang, intense spatial fluctuations spread out in all directions.

The teleportation gate had exploded.

The Jade Prince waved his hand, dispersing the spatial fluctuations that brushed against his face.

His expression turned somewhat grim.

The legendary professional beside him was knocked off balance by the violent spatial fluctuations, losing his levitation ability and crashing to the ground.

Suddenly, a massive shadow rapidly ascended from below, enveloping heaven and earth.

A colossal bone dragon over a hundred meters long swallowed the falling legendary professional in one bite.

Seeing the enormous bone dragon flying past before his eyes, the Jade Prince's gaze slightly intensified.

"Undead?"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The sound of howling winds filled heaven and earth.

In the blink of an eye, gray mist fell from the sky, covering the ground and enveloping the figure of the Jade Prince.

A miniature version of the Death Shroud.

Rustle! Rustle! Rustle!

Immediately afterward, countless elite-level undead emerged from the soil, over a hundred sixth-rank bone dragons burst from the earth and soared into the sky.

The earth slowly rose up, forming massive mountain ranges around the perimeter that encircled the Jade Prince.

Countless blood-red liquids flew out from holes at the peaks of these mountain ranges, quickly covering the sky to form a crimson dome that enveloped the world.

Countless undead appeared within this meticulously prepared trap.

The figure of a legendary lich slowly materialized in mid-air, staring intently at the Jade Prince floating before him.

This thousand-year-old nemesis.

Seeing this scene, how could the Jade Prince not realize he had been duped by Li Wei?

Although he didn't know how Li Wei had made his subordinates see a real dragon,

this spectacle before him was certainly something Li Wei had prepared long ago.

Though surrounded by endless undead, the Jade Prince showed no trace of panic.

For no other reason

than his absolutely overwhelming strength.

He himself was a demigod-level powerhouse.

He simultaneously wielded multiple semi-artifacts.

The magnificent robe he wore was itself a defensive-type semi-artifact.

This single semi-artifact alone was sufficient to ensure his safety.

Even legendary experts couldn't inflict any harm on him while he wore this semi-artifact defensive equipment.

Though the number of undead was vast, none of them were demigod-level undead powers.

Standing invincible, the Jade Prince remained completely calm.

At most, it would cost him some effort to eliminate these undead, then a bit more effort to return to the Jade Domain.

The Jade Prince was already contemplating how to deal with Li Wei.

Having been deceived once,

even if Li Wei's future potential was extraordinary,

the Jade Prince wouldn't keep him alive.

On the contrary, precisely because of his remarkable potential, he would strike even harder to eliminate him, avoiding leaving future troubles.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The dread Bone Dragon Emperor Ou and the legendary Dragon-Blood Warrior clashed fiercely.

Each collision erupted with astonishing power and overwhelming presence.

Yet, the legendary Dragon-Blood Warrior remained at a disadvantage, constantly suppressed by the dread Bone Dragon—defeat was only a matter of time.

Though he was equipped with powerful gear prepared for him by the Jade Prince,

the gap in raw strength could not be bridged merely by external tools.

The dread Bone Dragon had lived for over thousands of years—a skeletal dragon from the Realm of Death.

His strength had long reached the peak of the legendary tier.

The Dragon-Blood Warrior, on the other hand, was created by the Jade Prince using leftover vials of dragon blood potion.

His innate power only stood at the early stage of legend, and though his full-body equipment elevated him to challenge mid- or even late-stage legendary beasts,

he still fell far short against a peak legendary like the dread Bone Dragon.

Moreover, this battlefield lay beneath the shroud of the Death Veil.

The Death Veil continuously weakened the Dragon-Blood Warrior while strengthening the dread Bone Dragon.

The disparity between them grew ever wider.

Sssss!

The power of the Death Veil eroded toward the Jade Prince.

His resplendent robe radiated tricolor light, effortlessly repelling the encroaching force.

The glow signified its semi-artifact quality.

Even the weakest semi-artifacts bore two distinct hues.

Top-tier ones possessed six different lights.

Seven-colored radiance marked true artifacts—

Seven-hued divine weapons.

Defensive semi-artifacts were already rare.

A three-color defensive one held greater value than a four-color offensive piece.

Flying undead creatures swooped toward the Jade Prince, launching ranged assaults.

Over a hundred bone dragons spewed ghostly green breaths of death aimed at him.

All attacks were blocked by the tricolor barrier, unable to harm him even slightly.

From his storage ring, the Jade Prince withdrew an offensive semi-artifact weapon.

The ring itself shimmered with dual-colored brilliance.

Even his storage item was a semi-artifact.

Storage rings of such caliber offered vast space, far exceeding ordinary ones.

For someone as treasure-rich as the Jade Prince, without a semi-artifact-level ring, it would have been difficult indeed to carry all his valuables.

He drew forth a longsword gleaming with five-colored radiance.

Infusing it with energy, he swung the five-hued semi-artifact blade.

In that instant, heaven and earth split apart under the slash of rainbow light.

Every undead creature along the path was obliterated by the sword's aura.

Even the Death Veil, famed for reviving the dead, lost its efficacy.

Undead slain by the semi-artifact’s might saw both body and soul utterly annihilated.

The prerequisite for resurrection by the Death Veil was the preservation of bones.

Observing the immensely powerful Jade Prince, the legendary lich maintained his usual expression, showing no surprise nor alarm.

As if such strength came as no shock.

Even after living a thousand years, one might well become extraordinary.

The high-ranking Jade Prince, having survived a millennium, certainly wasn’t some feeble weakling.

The legendary lich had known long ago that he had ascended to demigod status.

And the battle had only just begun.

(End of Chapter)