"Noxis, you are too confident."
Wu Ling's voice suddenly sounded. A bad feeling rose in Noxis's heart. With a thought, vast milky-white light spread outward, and the dragon-shaped phantom turned into a stream of light that rushed toward Wu Ling.
In Noxis's eyes, Wu Ling's strength was not worth mentioning. But Wu Ling was the designer of this human-shaped soulcraft artifact. Even though Noxis had seized control while Wu Ling was unprepared, there was no guarantee that Wu Ling had not left some contingency behind. So Noxis wanted to deal with him first.
"I guessed from the start that you would make a move. Did you really think I would have no defenses or counters prepared?"
As Wu Ling spoke, surging malice suddenly poured out of his body. Several Magecraft arrays also appeared on the human-shaped soulcraft artifact. Endless evil flowed through those arrays from Wu Ling's body and into Noxis's soul.
"This is... an existence of that realm... no..."
Noxis released an unwilling roar, but everything had already slipped beyond his control. Under the invasion of that raging evil, Noxis's already damaged mind and soul were gradually dyed black. The force tried to separate his memories and consciousness from the imprint that held them.
Seeing that the Sacred Giant Dragon Noxis still had the ability to resist, Wu Ling casually called out, "Angra."
After hearing him, Angra Mainyu expressionlessly took out a knife, tilted his head, and cut off his own head.
With Angra's death, it was as if the final string supporting Noxis had snapped.
Under the partially reversed Magecraft arrays, the soul that belonged to Noxis split into two portions. One was pure soul power. The other contained Noxis's will and memories.
Wu Ling left the pure soul power inside the soulcraft artifact. The extracted memories and will were collected into a crystal ball. After all, the memories of a Sacred Giant Dragon still had some use.
The pure soul, milky white and flecked with golden light, churned constantly. Even without will or memory, it instinctively carried an emotion close to resentment. It rammed back and forth inside the dark-gold human-shaped soulcraft artifact, but no matter how it moved, it could not find an opening to escape.
Wu Ling walked up to the artifact and began the final refinement. Countless Magecraft arrays drawn from Spirit Power continued taking shape. As he carved, he spoke.
"Stop resisting. The consciousness I extracted from you will vanish eventually. The soul left behind will remain here and merge into the Dragon Soul Wood. For a soul that has lost consciousness, this is the best destination. Only inside this top-grade Dragon Soul Wood can that cluster of soul power avoid complete dissipation."
"Although you no longer possess consciousness, this is still the soul you once had. It leaves behind your final trace. In that sense, I have not broken my promise."
The milky-white radiance seemed to understand Wu Ling's words. It crashed around even more violently. Unfortunately, with its current strength, it could not break free from the soulcraft artifact no matter what it did.
As Noxis's final consciousness gradually faded with his spiritual imprint and merged into the artifact-spirit formation, the milky-white radiance's collisions became weaker and weaker. The disappearance of that spiritual imprint marked the complete extinction of a Sacred Giant Dragon.
What remained was only his unconscious soul and the memories recorded inside the crystal ball.
Unlike ordinary dragon souls, his soul formed the artifact spirit of this new soulcraft artifact, becoming one of its most critical components.
After that, Wu Ling's gaze fell on the vast dragon skeleton Noxis had left behind.
That enormous, durable dragon frame.
"Dragon Soul Wood for flesh, dragon tendons for sinews, dragon soul for soul, Spirit Power for blood. Then the final bone, this dragon skeleton, is clearly the best possible material for that role."
The moment Wu Ling thought of it, his hands did not slow. Under his control, the human-shaped soulcraft artifact descended beside Noxis's massive remains.
"Body, mind, and soul form a trinity. When the mind has scattered, the soul and body will naturally attract one another."
The Magecraft arrays on the human-shaped artifact recombined under Wu Ling's command. From the artifact's head, chest, and limbs, six chains shot out. The other ends connected to different parts of the dragon skeleton.
At every point where chain met bone, Magecraft arrays appeared. Under their effect, the dragon skeleton gradually changed shape, condensing and compressing until it became humanoid.
With the chains pulling them together, the human-shaped soulcraft artifact and the humanoid dragon skeleton slowly approached each other. At last, they fused into one. When the two became one, dazzling light wrapped the artifact. The Magecraft arrays Wu Ling had placed continued fulfilling their duty under his remote control.
Time passed bit by bit. The sphere of light flickered unsteadily. Seven dragon shadows flew out of it, and seven beams of light rose into the sky. A transparent light mass followed, with what seemed to be a milky-white dragon swimming inside.
The seven beams rising into the air transformed into dancing dragon shadows. They guided the transparent light mass upward until it became an even larger sacred dragon shadow. Against the seven divine lights, it hovered in midair like a moon surrounded by stars.
The silver-purple light of the dragon moon brightened. A beam of divine light poured down and enveloped the light mass.
As both the maker and master of this divine artifact, Wu Ling received feedback through his spiritual sea at once. Clear understanding rose in his mind.
The soulcraft artifact had succeeded.
In the Qin Emperor world, when countless god-level materials and opportunities piled together, a divine artifact could undergo qualitative transformation and finally reach the level of a super divine artifact in that world.
Wu Ling lifted his head and looked into the sky. What had condensed there was a mass of divine light. Countless colors shifted within it. An ascendant aura seemed to pulse. Enormous energy continuously climbed higher as the final fusion took place.
This soulcraft artifact combined top-grade Dragon Soul Wood, the Sacred Giant Dragon's horn, the Sacred Giant Dragon's teeth, the tendons of seven dragon kings, and the Sacred Giant Dragon's soul.
Under the dragon moon's light, Dragon's Dirge completed its fusion.
The bone dragons in the Dragon Domain also sensed that intense light. They fell into complete panic. Under the pressure of instinct, one after another knelt to the ground. Even their bony bodies trembled as they worshiped the light in the sky.
A super divine artifact was precious even in Soul Land, and even in the broader Soul Land universe. Not every main god could necessarily obtain a divine weapon of that level.
The Qin Emperor universe's definition of super divine artifact might not be perfectly equivalent to the Soul Land universe's, but it still counted as a supreme treasure.
According to Wu Ling's calculations, even in its normal state, this soulcraft artifact could easily display Venerate-level Titled Sage strength. If overloaded, it could temporarily reach level-ninety-nine Ruler strength. With it in hand, at least on Soul Land, Wu Ling basically no longer needed to worry about his life.
The light in the sky suddenly grew brighter and brighter. Then, like a falling meteor, the intense radiance dropped all at once. Invisible energy drilled into Wu Ling's body through every pore.
According to his design, the energy of a super divine artifact was too vast. Generally speaking, only a true god could operate it. But Wu Ling was the maker of this super divine artifact. After the blood sacrifice and consecration, he was its natural master. Of course, he did not suffer the usual restrictions. He could even receive energy feedback that washed through his body and granted him considerable benefits.
Inside the Dragon Domain, the violent fluctuations from the birth of a super divine artifact resonated with heaven and earth. Light followed the Blackwood Forest and shone beyond the Dragon Domain. Fierce waves swept across the world, even spreading over the entire Longinus Continent.
In Falan, the holiest and most central place of Longinus Continent, seven people lifted their heads at the exact instant the Dragon Domain changed.
Their ancient, deep eyes looked toward the distant sky. Shock filled every one of them.
They had all sensed it. For one instant, somewhere else had become the core of Longinus Continent. A strange elemental fluctuation shook their minds like the awakening of a god. That power left even them deeply alarmed.