9 Heavens God Lantern

The Blue Ming Continent was a vast land with a diverse range of terrain, including towering mountains, vast oceans, dense forests, and vast deserts. The continent was home to many different races, including humans, demons, and various other mythical creatures.

The Immortals or Cultivators were revered in this world for their incredible abilities to harness and manipulate spiritual energy. They dedicated their lives to cultivating their powers and achieving greater levels of enlightenment, with the ultimate goal of ascending to the heavens and becoming immortal beings.

However, cultivating was not an easy task, and only a few were able to reach the peak of their powers. It required immense discipline, determination, and strength of mind and body. Many dangers lurked on the path of cultivation, including deadly beasts, treacherous terrain, and malevolent cultivators.

Despite the challenges, many still pursued the path of cultivation, hoping to one day achieve immortality and transcend the mortal realm. The Blue Ming Continent was a hub of cultivation activity, with many powerful sects and clans dedicated to teaching and advancing the art of cultivation.

Blue Ming Continent; Colossal Mountain Range.

These mountains formed a chain that seemed to span endlessly across earth. Every mountain was huge. In the middle was an extraordinary mountain covered in a dark red liquid. In the center was a large cave guarded by several high-level puppets with decent cultivation levels.

This mountain was surrounded by a large blood-red net that didn't allow anything to pass through. A small bird was flying through this mountain when it suddenly hit the invisible net. The bird disintegrated and only dust remained. It was apparent that this was someone's cultivation cave. In fact, a high-level cultivator. A youth in red was sitting 5 km below this mountain, this cave belonged to him. He was Lin Xiaowen who was born with a special Soul called Merlot Extreme True Demon Soul. He was a striking figure, with flowing locks of pristine white hair that cascaded down his back. His robe was a deep crimson red, a vibrant hue that seemed to pulse with an otherworldly energy. His presence commanded respect and awe, as if he were a master of the elements themselves. As he stood there, his piercing gaze surveyed his surroundings with a keen sense of awareness, as though he were constantly attuned to the world around him.

People who had this type of soul were extremely rare, countable with 10 fingers. However this Soul type was extremely hard to control, Cultivators who had this soul type would turn demonic almost all the time, in extreme cases they could even transform into a complete demon

As Lin Xiaowen recited an intricate incantation, his crimson robe began to pale, and the color slowly drained from it. It was blood, soaked into the fabric from countless battles and slaughters. He continued his chant, and with his mastery of alchemy, he condensed the blood into a small, shimmering pill. The gold flecks that danced within the pill revealed the heightened quality of the blood he had gathered.

Lin Xiaowen had just returned from a brutal massacre, and now he was ready to begin cultivating his harvested blood in order to elevate his cultivation level and further comprehend the Dao of Slaughter. With his Merlot Extreme True Demon Soul, he possessed an innate talent for the art of killing, but he had to be careful to avoid being consumed by his own darkness. Even now, the urge to slaughter burned within him, an ever-present temptation that he must constantly resist.

Any slight offense, any perceived wrong, any mere glance askew – all of it was enough to incite his deadly wrath. The urge to kill surged through him with every breath, every heartbeat. It was a compulsion he struggled to control, but at times it seemed to take hold of him entirely, consuming him in a bloodlust that could only be satisfied with slaughter."

The more he killed, the more his cultivation increased and his understanding towards the Dao of Slaughter developed. Lin Xiaowen's last Slaughter was very good, he actually found a low-level celestial and stole all of his blood. He condensed the pill even more until it turned almost completely golden. After several breaths of time, he swallowed the pill. The pill went down from his throat until it reached his Aperture. when the pill dissolved, the golden light was being rapidly absorbed by a small dark red Soul.

After absorbing some of the golden blood, the Red Soul inside Lin Xiaowen showed signs of transforming. Lin Xiaowen immediately swallowed another pill. This pill was blue and when it entered Lin Xiaowen's aperture, it dissolved. Blue Energy suddenly appeared and crashed with the demonic energy inside Lin Xiaowen, balancing it out. The Red Soul immediately stabilized and returned to normal. But it was slightly bigger this time.

Right at this moment, Lin Xiaowen heard a faint sigh behind him. An old man with white hair actually sneaked in! Lin Xiaowen was startled, covered in cold sweat. He felt an intense death crisis However, he didn't panic. He was used to being chased and attacked hundreds of times because his Merlot Extreme True Demon Soul required him to Slaughter!

Lin Xiaowen calmly assessed the situation. The intruder had managed to bypass several layers of protection, indicating that they were a powerful and experienced cultivator. Perhaps it was an old monster he had offended during one of his past slaughters.

"Senior, is there something you need from this junior?" he asked calmly, his voice devoid of any fear or agitation.

"You killed my cross-generation disciple in your slaughter, although this is forgivable and not a sin that will cost your life, you will need to hand over a treasure." The white-haired old man revealed a smile that was not a smile.

"Oh, which treasure does senior want?" Lin Xiaowen asked, but he had a bad feeling in his heart.

The white-haired old man spoke with a commanding tone. "I seek the old lantern you wielded for protection. It will prove to be highly useful for my third disciple."

Lin Xiaowen had a sinking feeling in his gut. The lantern that the white-haired old man was asking for was nothing more than a mediocre treasure that Lin Xiaowen had picked up from an abandoned planet, mainly because it was compatible with his Merlot Extreme True Demon Soul. It was hard for him to believe that an old monster with such high cultivation would make the journey just for this insignificant treasure. It didn't make sense to him. If the old man truly wanted the lantern, he could easily refine it himself or acquire a similar treasure from elsewhere. Something felt off about this whole situation!

Lin Xiaowen had a bad feeling. He didn't believe that the white-haired old man was coming all the way just to gift this treasure to his disciple. It was too strange, especially since the treasure was weak and easy to refine. Lin Xiaowen couldn't shake off the suspicion that the old man had some other agenda in mind.

From the way he acted, it seemed that he only used the excuse of his cross-generation disciple's death to take this Lantern. Lin Xiaowen couldn't help but wonder if there was more to this treasure than just a simple soul-protecting lantern. If there was, he definitely wouldn't hand it over. He had already faced the wrath of several powerful old monsters before and didn't want to repeat the experience.

As a bearer of the Merlot Extreme True Demon Soul, Lin Xiaowen had become a magnet for the vengeance of the masters of the cultivators he had slain.

"Senior, this junior cannot part with the lantern as it is a precious gift from my ancestor. However, I am willing to offer these high-level treasures that I have personally refined to you as a gift." Lin Xiaowen presented a handful of treasures that glittered brightly in the dimly lit room.

"Hmph, if I command you to hand over the lantern, then you shall!" The white-haired old man raised his hand and pointed towards Lin Xiaowen with a menacing expression.

In an instant, a myriad of restrictions emerged and enveloped the old man's hand. Suddenly, three towering puppets materialized behind the old man, ready to strike at any moment. However, before they could even make a move, they exploded in a burst of power, shaking the entire room.

The earth shook beneath Lin Xiaowen's feet as he sprinted out of the cave, desperate to escape. However, before he could get far, he heard a loud crack and turned to see the white-haired old man standing next to the mountain, his finger pointed directly at him. A powerful blast of energy shot towards Lin Xiaowen, but he managed to dodge just in time, narrowly avoiding the attack.

As the old man pointed again, Lin Xiaowen's body was engulfed in a sudden surge of deadly energy. Without a second thought, he immediately retrieved his life-saving treasure, the Multi-colored Void Lance, and pointed it towards the dark sky. Four multi-colored ripples appeared around him, and he vanished in an instant. However, just as he was about to disappear, the force of the attack grazed him, causing a searing pain to shoot through his body.

Lin Xiaowen found himself suddenly transported to the vast emptiness of outer space, over 500,000 kilometers away from the mountain range. As he caught his breath and assessed his surroundings, he noticed that the Multi-colored Void Lance he had used to escape was now dim and one of its colors had disappeared.

Despite the injuries covering his body, Lin Xiaowen knew that he had made the right decision in using his life-saving treasure. With only three uses left, he couldn't afford to waste it, but he was also 90% certain that if he hadn't used it, he would have perished at that mountain.

"It will take at least 3 months before I am fully recovered and at my peak again." Right at this moment, an extremely strong divine sense flew past. But after discovering Lin Xiaowen, it suddenly came back.

The white-haired old man appeared once more, shouting at Lin Xiaowen. "Hand over that 9 Heavens God Lantern, little rat, and I'll let you leave!" he demanded.

"9 Heavens God Lantern!!!" Lin Xiaowen was startled, realizing the true value of the lantern. He remembered that this was one of the 3 God Class treasures of the United Star System.

Lin Xiaowen was taken aback. He couldn't believe that he had stumbled upon such a treasure in the small Azure Star System. He remembered the rumors about the 9 Heavens God Lantern, that it had nine levels of power, and that those who reached the final level could even defy the heavens themselves.

"According to the color of my lantern, it is at the first level. That should explain why it was so weak. But first, I should deal with this!" Lin Xiaowen said.

"Senior, you are openly stealing my treasure, do you have any proof that I killed your cross-generation disciple? If not, then scram for me!" Lin Xiaowen said in an angry tone.

"Proof or not, I'll just kill you right here and now!" The white-haired old man drew a black sword and slashed it three times.

3 Rays of extremely dense sword energy flew toward Lin Xiaowen. He quickly formed seals and tried to block the first sword energy. But it had no effect. Seeing this, Lin Xiaowen frowned and started to chant an extremely complex spell.

"Although this won't kill him or even injure him it could stall him while I escape!"

"My life-saving spell, 1 Dao Splits To 7!" Lin Xiaowen exclaimed as six red balls emerged from his Aperture and transformed into six identical avatars. He positioned three on his left and three on his right. The seventh avatar had cultivation similar to the white-haired old man! However, the first avatar had an extremely low cultivation level. Although he temporarily created an avatar with a high cultivation level, any damage taken would be shared among all the avatars. Thus, if the weakest avatar was injured, every avatar, including the original body, would be hurt. If the weakest avatar perished, everyone would die. Fortunately, the white-haired old man was unaware of this fact.

"What? You actually increased your cultivation to such a degree! Was the previous child with the Merlot Extreme True Demon Soul your avatar, or is this 7th person your avatar?" the white-haired old man exclaimed in surprise.

The 6th avatar intercepted the three rays of sword energy while the 7th avatar swiftly moved forward to launch an attack on the white-haired old man.

The white-haired old man snorted, "Hmph, even though these avatars have high cultivation levels, their treasures and spells are too weak!" He seemed to have relaxed a bit. This was the second weakness of Lin Xiaowen's spell; although his cultivation level had increased temporarily, his spells and treasures hadn't increased in quality.

The third weakness of this spell was the insane cost. Almost all of the Demonic Energy inside Lin Xiaowen's aperture was depleted

The white-haired old man sneered, "But still, this method is incredible. To increase his cultivation level to such a terrifying degree! This method should have another weakness!" He was not inexperienced or naive, having cultivated until his level was heaven-piercing. Thus, he had extremely rich battle experience. He aimed his sword at the weakest 1st avatar. The other avatars quickly rushed to help, but the strongest 6th and 7th avatars were already dealing with the 3 rays of sword energy. The remaining avatars were too weak, so they attacked with various spells, weakening the 4th slash until only a small bit remained. Then the 5th avatar quickly blocked the slash with a large shield.

The 4th ray of sword energy shattered the shield and pierced through the chest of the 5th avatar. All of the avatars immediately coughed up blood and sustained severe injuries. Lin Xiaowen's face distorted in pain as he hastily retrieved the Multi-colored Void Lance, pointing it thrice at the vast expanse of space.

"If he uses all three remaining colors of this treasure, even my divine sense would not be able to detect him! Stop!" The white-haired old man attacked relentlessly to stop Lin Xiaowen from using all three remaining colors of the Multi-colored Void Lance. Meanwhile, all of Lin Xiaowen's avatars fought fiercely to distract the old man and buy him enough time to escape. Once they succeeded, they would fuse together and teleport away. However, the cost of maintaining the avatars was too high, and one by one they began to dissipate into the air, leaving only Lin Xiaowen's original body behind.

As Lin Xiaowen attempted to teleport away, he was struck by a powerful force from the white-haired old man. The impact caused his body to disintegrate and explode, and his Merlot Red Soul emerged, only to be shredded into fragments by the force. However, just as the pieces of the soul began to reform and repaired themselves completely. they vanished into the vast emptiness of space.

"3 Life Spell!!! This is the legendary Three Life Spell!" The white-haired old man was extremely shocked.

A heavily injured red soul appeared several million kilometers away in outer space. But the instant it arrived, half of it exploded and it started to fly at an extreme speed toward a half-abandoned cultivation planet. When it arrived, it scanned the entire planet and found some cultivators. However, it was too weak and could not possess the body of a cultivator. it appeared in a faraway village and right when it was about to fade away, the soul fused with a 19-year-old boy.