As Lin Qian spoke, Nan Wudi's expression visibly faltered. The elegant demeanor he had been maintaining began to twist and distort.
"This guy named Nan Xin, his soul was refined into pure soul essence, becoming nourishment for my empress to enhance her soul. I must say, a strong person's refined soul essence is indeed a powerful supplement."
"As for his body, I'm truly sorry, I didn't let it go to waste either. I refined it into pure flesh essence." Lin Qian spread his hands innocently as he spoke to the enraged Nan Wudi before him.
Boom!
In an instant, Nan Wudi's aura erupted like a volcanic explosion. His chest heaved violently with fury, unable to suppress the raging fire within him, losing the calm demeanor he had been forcing himself to maintain.
Nan Wudi made his move. His overwhelming soul force surged like a void-destroying torrent towards Lin Qian. Within it, faint figures could be seen, as if vengeful spirits were wailing in despair.
Just as this torrent of howling ghosts appeared, a dazzling white sword light descended from the sky, instantly tearing the torrent apart, dissipating the vengeful aura into the air.
Whoosh!
A sharp sound of something cutting through the air was heard, and a middle-aged man in white robes suddenly rushed over from a distance, positioning himself in front of Lin Qian. "Despite your strength being at the Ninth Stage of the Awakening Realm with the power of a dominator, why bother troubling a junior?"
"The blood essence of your son was absorbed by me to heal my wounds. Why not come after me instead?" The man standing in front of Lin Qian smiled at the enraged Nan Wudi across from him.
Nan Wudi didn't continue his outburst but instead focused intently on the middle-aged man before him, frowning. "Who are you, and where did you come from?"
"Zhang Juncheng, just an old man whose life was once saved by this young emperor," the middle-aged man replied, turning to smile at Lin Qian. The two exchanged a knowing look and smiled.
Previously, during the national war mode, Lin Qian had discovered Zhang Juncheng meditating and recovering from his injuries in a secluded corner of the Ancient Forest World.
Encountering Zhang Juncheng here was an unexpected delight. Having such a veteran by his side would undoubtedly bring more stability.
"It seems your original strength was indeed formidable, but unfortunately, your vitality hasn't fully recovered. Even now, your strength barely reaches the level of a powerful warrior," Nan Wudi said coldly, staring at Zhang Juncheng.
Zhang Juncheng continued to smile gently, shaking his head slowly. "Of course, an Eighth Stage Awakening Realm against a Ninth Stage is no contest. But an Eighth Stage against an Eighth Stage? That's a different story."
"An Eighth Stage against an Eighth Stage?" Before Nan Wudi could react, he noticed Lin Qian raising an eyebrow at him, as if signaling him to look at himself.
Nan Wudi, puzzled, looked down at his own body. His expression changed drastically when he saw the situation.
Unbeknownst to him, his exposed arms were covered in crimson patterns, spreading like a spiderweb—alarming and eerie.
Realizing the strange condition of his body, Nan Wudi hurriedly tore off his clothes to examine himself closely, only to find the same unusual patterns all over his body. The crimson lines crawled across his entire being.
Especially on his chest, the mysterious blood-red patterns formed the shape of three incense sticks, an odd sight.
Despite the changes to his body, Nan Wudi felt no discomfort, which puzzled him. The eerie crimson lines seemed out of place, yet there was nothing wrong with his body.
What Nan Wudi didn't know was that on his back, several blood-red lines were extending and connecting, gradually linking together.
"Strange, such changes in my body, yet nothing seems to be happening?" Seeing Nan Wudi's confused expression, Lin Qian chuckled and said, "The erosion of your body takes time. It's not complete yet, so naturally, nothing has happened."
"Time?" Nan Wudi raised his head sharply to look at Lin Qian, as if he had just understood something.
"Exactly, it takes time. Anger can even shorten the time," Lin Qian nodded, yawning as he looked at Nan Wudi in front of him. "Otherwise, do you think I'd be wasting my breath on all this?"
As Lin Qian's words fell, the blood-red patterns on Nan Wudi's back finally connected.
Simultaneously, the blood-red lines on Nan Wudi's chest, shaped like three incense sticks, suddenly ignited as if they were burning on his chest.
"This thing is called Huaxia Incense Burning," Lin Qian said calmly as he looked at the agonized and lowly growling Nan Wudi.
At the same time, Zhang Juncheng made his move, seizing the moment to strike. As the saying goes, 'take your enemy's life when they're down.' If not now, when?
Brilliant sword light transformed into countless rays of brilliance, forcing Nan Wudi to retreat.
At this moment, Nan Wudi could only gather his soul force outside his body, relying on his physical strength to fight back.
The Blackblood Clan was inherently known for their powerful physical bodies. The body Nan Wudi had taken from the Blackhorn King had been refined to perfection. However, the Blackhorn Clan's powerful innate abilities had disappeared.
After all, even though Nan Wudi had taken the Blackhorn King's body, he wasn't of the Blackhorn Clan and lacked the corresponding soul. Without that, he couldn't use their innate abilities.
Therefore, he couldn't utilize the Blackhorn Clan's talents with soul force. He only had his Blackblood Clan's formidable physique and the mysteries of black blood.
When the three incense sticks on his chest ignited, his aura vanished, dropping from dominator-level power to that of a powerful warrior. In fact, his aura was now even weaker than Zhang Juncheng's.
"Continue the attack, ignore this guy," Lin Qian ordered as he saw Zhang Juncheng holding Nan Wudi at bay. He commanded the Imperial Army and the War Beast Army to continue their assault, utterly annihilating the remaining crazed members of the Five Mad Clans.
Looking at the defeated and roaring Nan Wudi below, a smile spread across Lin Qian's face.
He had noticed it long ago, and so had Zhuge Ming—when members of the Five Mad Clans were slain, their blood energy would dissipate.
Therefore, Gale and Nightshadow had mixed formation viruses into the blood energy.
Clearly, this blood energy mixed with formation viruses had been absorbed by Nan Wudi's body, which he had used as a source for his blood and soul transformation.
However, Nan Wudi never anticipated that his act of harming other beings for his own gain would eventually entrap him.
Before long, Nan Wudi was captured alive by Zhang Juncheng, and his aura continued to fade until he only had the strength of a Grandmaster.
"Violence cannot solve everything," Lin Qian sneered at the captured Nan Wudi before him. "I didn't even have to lift a finger to deal with you."
Lin Qian reached out and patted Nan Wudi's face, shaking his head regretfully. "Eight thousand years of scheming, what a waste. Hmm? You've already weakened to the Sixth Stage of the Awakening Realm without me noticing?"