King of Assassins-Chapter 935 - 652: Promise (Part 2)

The image of the black shadow is not important, what matters is the curved black sword held in the hands of the shadowy figure.

The curved black sword appears exceptionally heavy.

Gao Xuan's gaze fell on the black sword, and his divine soul felt an infinite gravitational pull, as if trying to forcefully extract his soul.

Around his divine soul, the Five Elements Rune Seed simultaneously shone brightly, completely isolating the power from the curved black sword.

Gao Xuan's gaze turned to the shadowy figure, "Who are you?"

The shadowy figure also looked at Gao Xuan, his face shrouded in smoke, a hoarse voice reverberating, "Who are you?"

Though the shadowy figure was merely a mass of smoke and his voice hoarse, he carried an imposing aura of authority.

Gao Xuan instantly recognized this aura and the unique soul fluctuation.

He solemnly said, "Hercules, it is you."

The smoke around the shadowy figure surged violently, as if experiencing intense emotional turmoil: "Who are you?"

His voice suddenly rose significantly, and the black sword in his hand glowed with a layer of spiritual light.

Gao Xuan paused and said, "I am Gao Xuan."

"Hmm?!"

The shadowy figure was greatly shocked, the black smoke dispersed, revealing a solid, substantial form.

The man's features were deep and resolute, with a commanding presence in his brow, tall and strong in stature. His body resembled a sculpture of black jade, transparent and glossy yet full of texture.

This person's appearance and form were unmistakably Hercules. Yet, after a thousand years, he seemed to have lost his human body, becoming a very special state.

Seeing Hercules' appearance, Gao Xuan wanted to sigh. Before him was no longer Hercules. Strictly speaking, he was merely a remnant soul of Hercules, relying on the Netherworld King's Saber to survive.

This neither dead nor alive state was extremely bizarre.

Gao Xuan would rather Hercules were completely dead than see him in such a ghostly form.

Hercules was still shocked; he suddenly raised his voice, questioning: "You are Gao Xuan, how do you prove yourself?"

"During the meeting at the Moisture Hall, we chatted alone. You must remember."

"Nuwa knows about this. This cannot prove anything." Although Hercules was neither human nor ghost, his mind was still clear.

"Nuwa should not be interested in deceiving you."

Gao Xuan thought for a moment and said, "Helen carries three parts of the Evil God's divinity. Nuwa should not know this."

Hercules sighed and said, "You really are Gao Xuan."

After saying this, Hercules fell silent.

"Where did Helen go, and how did you turn into this?"

Gao Xuan was most concerned with Helen's whereabouts; as for Hercules, in his current state, he was powerless.

"It's all your fault."

Speaking of this, Hercules suddenly became emotional, "Jin Yuxiu, Imperia, Qin Shiyue, these people conspired to seize power, Helen could not defeat them and had to withdraw. I refused to leave, and they killed me!"

"I see."

Gao Xuan was not surprised by this, calmly listening to the answer.

He had set the Nine Provinces Cauldron to guard the Central Star Realm, and to prevent unexpected events, had given it to his women.

Clearly, the problem began with the Nine Provinces Cauldron, causing the situation to spiral out of control.

Qin Shiyue, this person was cunning and exceptionally patient. He seized the opportunity and turned against them, which was also normal.

Imperia had a father's-blood vendetta against him; seeing the chance for revenge was also reasonable.

Jin Yuxiu, this young girl, although they did not have deep feelings, had no reason to betray him.

However, power captivates the heart. Jin Yuxiu, because of her young age, was easily swayed; not surprising.

Gao Xuan asked, "How did you become like this?"

Hercules sneered, "The Netherworld King never dies; my remnant soul transformed within the Netherworld King's Saber, becoming this."

"Transformed into this state, even if I regain power, I fear I cannot help you."

Gao Xuan shook his head, not even the Divine is omnipotent.

Let alone him, even a divinity like the Ksitigarbha King would be helpless in the face of Hercules' state.

There are things in this world that cannot be reversed. Life leading to death is a natural process, rooted in the world's fundamental rules, beyond the control of me or any Divine.

Though Hercules knew this, hearing Gao Xuan say so made controlling his emotions difficult.

With some agitation, he pointed the Netherworld King's Saber at Gao Xuan: "It's all your fault."

Gao Xuan gently said, "Though I am not at fault, in this matter I am sorry to you and Helen."

Hercules paused upon hearing Gao Xuan apologize.

The Gao Xuan he knew swept the Alliance, the major Golden Families, restructuring the order of the Alliance single-handedly.

Back then, Gao Xuan possessed extraordinary powers and great pride.

Hercules never imagined Gao Xuan would bow his head to apologize. For some reason, he felt uncomfortable.

A thousand years had changed too much.

Hercules glared at Gao Xuan, shouting, "You are an invincible strongman, a peerless hero who overwhelmed the Star River. How can you admit you were wrong; you shouldn't be so weak!"

Hercules grew more agitated, staring intently into Gao Xuan's eyes: "You have changed bodies, grown cowardly? Are you afraid of the Five Noble Families? Afraid of those who seized your power?"

Gao Xuan calmly said, "I fear no one, no intelligent life. The Five Noble Families are mere clowns, not worth mentioning."

He sighed lightly: "I merely understand the cold, harsh reality of the world, the weakness and flaws of human nature. I can change the world, but I cannot change human nature. Revolutionary change and reform inevitably succumb to human nature..."

Hercules shook his head, "You are afraid, you want to retreat; you disappoint me too much."

With his finger pointing at Gao Xuan, he proclaimed, "Do you know why I survive neither as man nor ghost? I want to witness your return, to watch those petty people kneel before you, you disappoint me greatly!"

Gao Xuan resolutely said, "Justice owed to you, I will make them repay a hundred times. Without breaking my word."

"Without breaking your word?"

"I promise."

Gao Xuan solemnly declared, "Please be patient; within a thousand standard natural days, I will make all traitors pay a price, giving you and everyone great justice!"

Hercules suddenly laughed, "Good, I believe you."

He pointed to his eyes, then to Gao Xuan: "I will watch you, always watching you."

Gao Xuan too laughed: "All I fear is human nature. Qin Shiyue and others, they are insignificant."

Hercules shook his head, "You are too weak now. With only one Third-Grade Spiritual Artifact?"

"That's not an issue."

"It is an issue."

Hercules sighed deeply: "I have hidden for a thousand years, gathering three trillion dead souls to refine the Netherworld King's Saber. Among them are Golden Core Cultivators.

"You know the characteristic of the Netherworld King's Saber?" It retains the wisdom and memory of the living from when they were alive. Three trillion memories and wisdom coalesce into the saber, finally enabling a breakthrough."

Hercules said, "I present this saber to defend yourself."

Gao Xuan shook his head, "I don't need it. Such a powerful Divine Artifact would be an eyesore in my hand."

Hercules laughed heartily, "That's beyond your control..."

With that, Hercules transformed into a smoke, merging into the black sword, where flames of black began to burn.

Vaguely, Gao Xuan heard countless souls howling and screaming. Hercules turned his soul into terrifying flames to burn the souls and the Netherworld King's Saber together.

This process was extremely brief, lasting less than a few seconds, for the Netherworld King's Saber to transform into a beam of black light merged into Gao Xuan's left hand.

The black light forcibly merged with the Demon-Sundering Arm Blade, altering the core array of runes within the blade.

Gao Xuan could neither resist forcefully, nor did he want to; thus, he guided the black light to fuse with the Demon-Sundering Arm Blade.

In the blink of an eye, the core Rune Seed of the Demon-Sundering Arm Blade rapidly changed and grew. By the time the black light and Demon-Sundering Arm Blade completely fused, the Rune Seed had been thoroughly transformed and upgraded.

The core rune quantity alone reached the scale of billions.

Now, the Demon-Sundering Arm Blade's original attributes were all upgraded, gaining three more powerful Netherworld King's Saber divine techniques.

The Demon-Sundering Arm Blade should now be called the Netherworld King's Demon-Sundering Blade.

Through this transformation, the Netherworld King's Saber had entirely disappeared.

Looking at the dark gold hand armor on his left hand, Gao Xuan felt a bit complex. Hercules had completely burned his divine soul to facilitate this change.

The transformed Netherworld King's Demon-Sundering Blade likely reached the level of Super First Grade. However, Hercules was gone.

A wisp of Hercules' phantom appeared before Gao Xuan, his expression stern, using two fingers to point to his own eyes, then to Gao Xuan, "I will always be watching you, watching you fulfill your promise..."