Chapter 4419: The Chaotic Spirit Pearl
The blade came too fast for Lin Moyu to react it had already struck the Calamity Boat.
The Calamity Boat was thrown backward uncontrollably, but Lin Moyu's icy gaze was fixed on the sudden great blade. Thankfully, the Calamity Boat protected him; without it, he would've died.
Whoever attacked possessed immense power, at least Full Completion level, and stronger than most Full Completion cultivators.
Yet, looking around even with the Necromancer's Eye Lin Moyu couldn't spot the attacker.
The heavy blade flashed in the void again, appearing before the Calamity Boat and striking down a second time.
Boom!
The Calamity Boat was knocked away once more, buffeted so strongly that Lin Moyu couldn't control it.
Fortunately, it was sturdy enough to withstand these blows, only getting battered not broken.
Lin Moyu knew the problems lay with himself his realm wasn't high enough.
If he were Full Completion, the attacker couldn't budge the Calamity Boat; if the boat were fully restored, they couldn't split it.
But as it stands, neither applied he was forced to watch as the boat bounced from impact to impact.
Little Tree tried to intervene to steady the boat, but Lin Moyu stopped him. He wasn't afraid of strong foes what mattered was that the enemy hadn't even shown themselves.
The attacker was the blade itself, with no visible wielder.
Again and again, the boat became a ball kicked around by the blade, slashed repeatedly.
Still, he saw no sign of the enemy.
Little Tree wondered, "Could it be the blade itself attacking us?"
Chaos Child retorted, "Isn't that obvious? The blade itself is hitting us."
Quiet, reserved Peng suddenly piped up, "There's a race called the Warblade Clan their real bodies are blades. Could it be them?"
Lin Moyu considered, "If so, they should have souls but I don't sense any spirit."
Peng explained, "The Warblade Clan doesn't have souls; they're a kind of artifact spirit, but not true artifact spirits."
Lin Moyu was intrigued, "Explain."
Peng continued, "Long ago, there was a clan in chaos that loved blades the Warblade Clan. It's said they found some treasure in the scar and brought it back.
Soon after, all members of the clan vanished. Later, people found Warblade Clan blades in the scar, but none found any of the people themselves.
Eventually, it was concluded the entire clan died out leaving only blades, which became spiritual, yet not like typical artifact spirits, very odd, with no answer.
All that's known: Warblades roam the scar and attack any creature passing by."
Now Lin Moyu was truly interested.
A whole clan destroyed, its weapons gaining independent essence.
Little Tree and Chaos Child exchanged shocked glances they were thinking of something.
Peng's "long ago" was eons after Little Tree and Chaos Child's era countless epochs between.
Back when they existed, time wasn't even counted; the Warblade Clan was long in the future.
The fact that they'd thought of something meant the Warblade story was related.
Lin Moyu urged, "If you two have guessed something, say it."
The Warblade kept slamming the Calamity Boat, but couldn't breach it, so let it keep trying.
Chaos Child coughed, "Based on Peng's tale, we thought of a being called the Chaotic Spirit Pearl. Not sure, but the odds are high.
The Pearl can disguise itself as any treasure not true disguise, more like it appears as what you most desire; to your eyes, it becomes your dream item.
It affects all who see it splitting into countless 'bodies,' so everyone thinks they've secured something unique.
But when one tries to refine it, the Pearl reverses the process refining its would be master instead. It absorbs the essence of flesh and soul, discards the rest, and attaches what's left onto a weapon, making that weapon its thrall.
So many of its minions are born this way; back when everyone was strong, the Pearl made little difference."
Back then, strong individuals abounded; now, with fewer powerful cultivators, the Pearl's ability could flourish.
If the Warblade Clan fell to the Pearl, then each clan member saw the Pearl as their ideal, grabbed it, and, during refinement, were themselves refined.
Their essence was devoured, remnants attached to their blades, and thus the weapons became the Pearl's minions, their clan wiped out.
Lin Moyu said, "Isn't that invincible? It just dupes tribes, refines strong cultivators, and adds more underlings."
Little Tree shook his head, "No, it has limits its targets can't be much stronger than itself, and the number it can control is limited. When it hits a maximum, it must choose; we don't know the exact cap, but it isn't huge.
If a cultivator's power is high enough, and unless the Pearl has godlike numbers, it can't tip the scales. For us, the Pearl wasn't a threat, never entered the big wars."
Chaos Child added, "Maybe that's how it survived: too weak for war, so it slipped by. Probably wounded itself messing in those battles."
Little Tree agreed, "Likely true but even if it survived, it would struggle to return to chaos."
Chaos Child concluded, "It might visit occasionally unless luck's bad, it'll avoid trouble.
But right now, with 'Dao' ruling chaos, if the Pearl gets caught, it's finished. So it hides in the scar, which is both its home and a great cover."
Little Tree further deduced, "The Warblade Clan probably didn't find the Pearl by chance the Pearl sought them out, needing essence to recover."
Chaos Child concurred the Pearl used the clan as nourishment for its revival.
Lin Moyu said, "All right, now we know the enemy; next is how to handle it."
The attacking Warblade was powerful, better than most Full Completion cultivators, and without a soul making several of Lin Moyu's methods useless.
Little Tree advised, "Master, use undead minions to lure out the Chaotic Spirit Pearl. If you can't beat the blade, defeat the Pearl directly."
Lin Moyu understood, "Good idea."