After hearing the plan's entirety, the God of Destruction and others actually felt a twinge of pity for Evil Sword Immortal. Brilliant schemer, tremendous strength—yet hamstrung by poor intel, toyed with by a father- and son-in-law.
"Jun Tianlin! Ning Fengzhi!!!" Veins bulged as Evil Sword Immortal charged, sanity consumed by rage. His target wasn't Tianlin, but the now powerless Ning Fengzhi.
Even if he died, he would drag Ning Fengzhi down with him.
"A final impotent roar?" Tianlin smiled, unmoving. Ning Fengzhi had protection.
"Don't you dare hurt my father." Ning Rongrong stepped in front of Ning Fengzhi. Even knowing she was no match, she would not retreat.
Her trident swept horizontally at Evil Sword Immortal.
He dismissed her utterly. Even with his trial failed, he still possessed Supreme God-King power. How could a mere first-rank god like Ning Rongrong touch him?
The next instant, the trident's terrifying force warped his body and sent him flying.
Even Ning Rongrong was startled. How did she get this strong?
That strike was far beyond 108,000 kg—more like tens of millions. Had she become a super-strength maiden?
At that moment, radiance welled from within her along with a gentle voice: ["Ning Rongrong, for assisting Jun Tianlin in stopping the Evil Emperor trial and subduing Evil Sword Immortal: Holy Empress inheritance progress at 80%."]
"Holy Empress!" Ning Rongrong was shocked—there was another divine trial within her, already at 80%.
Even incomplete, this god-seat boosted her power to Supreme God-King level; no wonder she had swatted him away.
Tianlin gently descended beside her. "Rongrong, nice gift, right? On Sea God Island, when I gave you summoning rights to the Snow Demon, I also imprinted the Holy Empress inheritance upon your Nine-Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda."
"Wonderful, Sword Brother! Then I can fight by your side." She was delighted; more than the power, she loved being beside him.
Tianlin nodded. "Good. Let's, as husband and wife, beat this guy down together."
"Fools! You won't kill me so easily." Evil Sword Immortal raised the Evil Spirit Pearl again. It wasn't fully shattered; he would draw on its last reserves.
A world-polluting tide of evil qi seeped out. He roared, "Evil Spirit Canopies the Heavens!"
His ultimate, scaling with the evil qi's strength.
"A dying struggle." Tianlin flipped his palm. The Holy Spirit Pearl—now fully a creation artifact, detached from its former martial spirit state—soared forth.
It had fully merged the Five Spirit Pearls' powers, plus the mental attribute of the Skydream Ice Silkworm and the Yin-aspected mental attribute of the Silver Dragon King. With the Silver Dragon King's element-harmonizing gift, it could deploy all immortal arts with power far beyond the Evil Spirit Pearl.
First: Yang-aspected immortal art, Five-Spirit Purge Evil—80% of the miasma cleansed.
Then: Yin-aspected immortal art, Demon Souls to Salvation—vast nether yin assimilated the remaining 20% of evil qi.
Next, the five-spirit immortal arts in unison:
Earth: Mount Tai Descends
Fire: Infernal Sea
Water: Wind and Snow Seal the Heavens
Wind: Tempest Shatters the Sky
Thunder: Ninefold Heaven's Thunder
With the barrage, the Evil Spirit Pearl's fracture accelerated, cracks racing outward.
"What a terrifying artifact!" the God of Destruction exclaimed. The pearl that once ravaged the God Realm was suppressed this thoroughly.
"Golden Thirteen Tridents—No Return!" Ning Rongrong pressed the assault on Evil Sword Immortal himself. With his pearl suppressed, he lacked an artifact—prime time to kill him.
"You think I have no artifact? Destruction Scepter!" Evil Sword Immortal produced a scepter, blocking the Sea God Trident—equal in might to that super-artifact.
All eyes turned to the God of Destruction. Wasn't that his super-artifact?
"Don't look at me. When he occupied the God Realm, Evil Sword Immortal confiscated most artifacts and super-artifacts. Otherwise why didn't I use the Destruction Scepter earlier?" the God of Destruction said helplessly.
It made sense: to control a god, control their artifact.
Caught off guard earlier, Evil Sword Immortal was now fully committed. His strength was no less than Ning Rongrong's; his Destruction Scepter matched the Sea God Trident. After thirteen exchanges in midair, even the full Golden Trident forms couldn't best him.
"Rongrong, your combat experience is lacking; you haven't brought the Golden Thirteen Tridents to mastery. Watch me."
Tianlin made his move. A divine sword descended. Evil Sword Immortal reflexively raised the Destruction Scepter—there was a clear ding, the sword returned to Tianlin's hand, and the scepter crumbled to dust.
One of the God Realm's mightiest super-artifacts couldn't withstand a single clash.
"The God-Demon Sword… Worthy of a weapon forged by merging two supreme artifacts and sacrificing a super-artifact," Chen Xin said, thrilled as a swordsman seeing such a blade in his disciple's hand.
The God of Destruction ached—his scepter!—but consoled himself. "It's for saving the world. They have a Divine Craftsmen; I'll ask him to craft me a new one."
Evil Sword Immortal's despair deepened. "The God-Demon Sword—damn it, even that has been restored."
The Holy Spirit Pearl already left him helpless; with the God-Demon Sword in play, he had no hope.
He then pulled out, in turn, the Evil God's Scales of Judgment, the Life Goddess's Tree of Life, the Good God's Heart of Goodness—the five God-Kings' super-artifacts. Aside from the Asura Sword already refined, he used everything.
Against the God-Demon Sword, all met the same fate. Only the Tree of Life and Heart of Goodness—useful beyond battle for nurturing life and guiding virtue—were spared destruction; Tianlin only knocked them away, to have Lou Gao repair later.
The Scales of Judgment weren't so lucky, joining the Destruction Scepter as dust.