CHAPTER 265: CHAPTER 265: SEVEN SWORD POISON, ANOTHER ENCOUNTER WITH THE UNICORN

"Thank you, my lord." Benz was overjoyed. He knocked his head to the ground to Skye again, then bowed deeply to Johnnie before getting up.

"Kid, hand over the axe."

Skye turned to Johnnie, his voice cold.

He hadn’t forgotten that he’d entrusted his shield to Johnnie, and it got lost.

If they hadn’t run into a danger they couldn’t handle this time, he would never have risked lending Johnnie the axe.

Johnnie tightened his grip on the axe. "Senior, you don’t need it right now. Let me keep using it, okay?"

Skye didn’t bother arguing. He lifted a hand. The axe flew out of Johnnie’s grasp and landed in Skye’s palm.

"So stingy," Johnnie muttered under his breath.

"Stingy?" Skye’s anger flared. "Kid, don’t forget what you promised me. If you don’t find my head, we are not done about that lost shield!"

He still held a grudge about the shield.

Skyward Guard and Skybreaker was his most important weapon, carried through life-and-death battles—almost like his life itself.

If Johnnie weren’t... special, Skye wouldn’t have let it go so easily.

"Got it," Johnnie said, a bit guilty. Then he asked, "Senior, I’m already in the Land of Confusion. Can you sense where your head is?"

"No. If I could, would I need you to look for it?" Skye snapped. He couldn’t be bothered with them any longer. His figure flickered and vanished.

Johnnie was helpless. The Land of Confusion was even vaster than the Universe Continent. With no clues at all, finding Skye’s head would be like looking for a needle in the ocean.

Save Cecilia first.

Johnnie had wanted to ask about the ancient battlefield ruins, but Skye was already gone.

"Coco, do you know anything about the ancient battlefield ruins?" he asked.

Coco was the spirit of the Map of Heaven and Earth. She had surely lived through that great war and should know something.

She was silent for a moment, then said, "My lord, I can only tell you this: the Blood-Feeding Worm you met in the passage is the weakest thing in the ruins. If you go in now, you will die for sure."

"That scary?" Johnnie was shocked. He had already seen how terrifying the Blood-Feeding Worm was—its powers were strange, and it could devour any kind of energy.

He even felt that even if it couldn’t kill him, it would eat away his attributes and knock him back to Stage 1, Level 1.

The Blood-Feeding Worm feared attacks of True Intent, but Skywind Sword: Wind’s True Intent wasn’t strong. None of them could kill it.

If Skye hadn’t stepped in, they would have been in grave danger.

If just the weakest Blood-Feeding Worm was that terrifying, were the monsters in the ruins really something even a Divine powerhouse could handle?

Johnnie strongly doubted it.

At least he hadn’t come away empty-handed this time. He had gotten a God-Tier Skill Stone.

Too bad there was only one. It could only raise a single Forbidden Spell by one level.

Johnnie had five Forbidden Spells now, all very strong. He thought for a bit and decided to level up Vajra Indestructibility.

He didn’t lack damage and could easily kill anyone below Domain.

Against a Domain, even if he boosted a damage-type Forbidden Spell, it wouldn’t help much. A defense skill was safer, and Vajra Indestructibility also made him immune to control.

[Ding, you used a God-Tier Skill Stone. Vajra Indestructibility has been raised to Level 2.]

[Vajra Indestructibility: metal-type Forbidden Spell, Level 2. Your body turns to metal. Overall defense +200x. Immune to control. Costs 9% Mana per second. Can be leveled by advancing The Mage of the Five Elements or using a God-Tier Skill Stone.]

"Defense actually went up to 200x!" Johnnie was surprised.

At Level 2, Vajra Indestructibility boosted his overall defense from 100x to 200x, and Mana cost dropped by 1% to 9% per second.

But he still couldn’t keep it up for long. He needed gear that could restore Mana, or he had to keep leveling his Forbidden Spells.

"Let’s go. Back to the desert." He didn’t stay. With a thought, he led Nalorin Sylvia and Benz back into the wasteland.

Maiev stayed inside The Map of Heaven and Earth; she preferred it there.

Whoosh

The wind howled. Yellow sand filled the sky.

Dawn was breaking on the horizon. They had spent the whole night chasing the unicorn. They didn’t catch it. Instead, they fell into quicksand and almost died.

"Sylvia, can you still find that quicksand spot?" Johnnie looked around. It was sand in every direction, nothing special at all.

He wasn’t worried about falling in again; he wanted to mark it for future trips into the ancient battlefield ruins.

Nalorin Sylvia shook her head, at a loss. Even if they marked it, the sand would cover it up soon.

"Maybe it’s still right under our feet?" Benz said, and bounced on his toes.

Nalorin Sylvia jumped at the motion and snapped, "Watch it. If you fall again, we won’t save you."

Benz grinned and stopped tempting fate.

"Let’s keep heading west," Johnnie said, watching the rising sun. With the sun at their backs, they moved on through the desert.

To be safe, they spaced out and tied themselves together with vines. If they hit quicksand again, they wouldn’t all sink at once.

The sun climbed higher and baked the wasteland. The sand underfoot was still scorching.

Even with their strength, it was hard to bear.

"Benz, do you want to go back into The Map of Heaven and Earth first?" Nalorin Sylvia asked, seeing how rough he looked.

He had found a stick from who knows where and was using it to limp along, stumbling with every step.

He was the weakest of the group.

Johnnie was only Stage 6, but his stats were already beyond a Stage 9, Legendary peak powerhouse—enough to trigger a heavenly tribulation.

Benz shook his head, wiped the sweat from his brow, and gritted his teeth. "No need, I can keep going."

"You all go into The Map of Heaven and Earth," Johnnie said. "If there’s danger, I’ll call you out."

His mouth was dry and he was thirsty too, but he didn’t want to stop.

This desert was special. You couldn’t fly here, and you could only travel after the sun came up, when you could tell the direction.

He worried about Cecilia’s safety and didn’t want to waste any more time.

"Master, I’ll stay. I cultivate ice and snow laws—I can handle this heat," Nalorin Sylvia said.

Johnnie nodded and didn’t refuse. With a thought, he put Benz into the Map of Heaven and Earth.

He glanced up at the blazing sun, set his direction, and moved on.

"Huh? Seven Sword has recovered?" Johnnie blurted. A message from the Dark Golden Golem said Seven Sword had refined the poison, its stats were back, and it had even gotten stronger.

He summoned Seven Sword.

The blade was pitch-black now, giving off a cold gleam and a wicked aura.

It looked like it had fully turned into a demonic sword.

He checked its current stats.

[Seven SwordPoison: Poison. Divine artifact, Stage 5. Corrupted by deadly venom. Attacks inflict poison damage, making the target lose 1% Health per second and suppressing their health recovery until death.]

"This..."

Johnnie stared, shocked. Even the name had changed.

Its strikes now carried deadly poison and suppressed healing.

In other words, if the target couldn’t recover Health, they could last at most 100 seconds—then they’d die for sure.

Even without triggering Seven Sword’s Instant Kill special effect, the poison alone could threaten a Domain.

A blessing in disguise.

He hadn’t known how to deal with that Pitiless before, but with this change to Seven Sword, his confidence soared.

The two of them kept moving through the desert.

...

The sun set. Darkness fell completely. No moon, no stars.

Johnnie couldn’t tell direction. "Sylvia, go into the Map of Heaven and Earth and rest," he said.

The sandstorms were brutal. In the past two days, besides the unicorn and that Blood-Feeding Worm, they hadn’t seen any life.

"Master, I sense a trace of life," Nalorin Sylvia said, looking into the distance.

"Demonic creatures?" Johnnie asked, puzzled. He sensed nothing.

She focused, then said, "It’s plants. And there’s a Water-Elemental Power ripple. We should be near the edge of the desert."

"Really?" Johnnie’s eyes lit up. "Lead the way."

Nalorin Sylvia nodded and moved toward the source of that life aura.

The night was pitch-black, but it didn’t slow them much.

Soon, a patch of green came into view.

It wasn’t a forest, and it wasn’t the desert’s edge. It was an oasis.

Johnnie couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

This desert was even bigger than he’d thought.

Two days on foot—no flying—and they’d still covered over 200 kilometers, yet the edge was nowhere in sight.

He worried about Cecilia and grew a bit irritable.

"Master, I sense a pure life aura. The unicorn seems to be here too," Nalorin Sylvia whispered.

"Yeah? Let’s take a look." Johnnie brightened, held his breath, lightened his steps, and crept forward through the sand.

Soon, they reached the edge of the oasis. It was full of life, thick with plants, stretching for several kilometers.

By a calm lake, a pure white figure appeared—the unicorn.

It lowered its head to drink, now and then lifting it to scan the area, alert to danger.

Neigh!

All of a sudden, it sensed a threat. It jerked its head up and stared toward where Johnnie was hiding.

They were spotted.

The unicorn’s wings spread, and it shot into the air without hesitation.

But at this distance, it was already within Johnnie’s attack range.

He didn’t hesitate. He sent Seven Sword flying at the unicorn.

Slash!

Blood sprayed. A sharp, pained scream rang out.

Wait—no!

Johnnie realized it at once. Seven Sword had changed. Its poison could actually threaten the unicorn’s life.