One thing that must be affirmed is that, during Eric Carter's two hundred years of treasure forging, any finished magical artifact crafted by his hand—even the very worst of them—would be regarded as a sect-protecting treasure in any other cultivation sect.

Eric Carter's achievements in the art of artifact forging are undoubtedly immense. Looking at the sixteen generations of sect masters of the Artifact Forging Pavilion, aside from the first generation founder—the ancestor who forged the Heavenly Heart Shuttle, which now ranks first among the top ten magical artifacts—he was perhaps slightly superior to Eric Carter in forging techniques. As for the other fourteen generations of sect masters, none could match Eric Carter's accomplishments in artifact forging.

Yet, when faced with the moment of the Great Annihilation Five Elements Divine Thunder, which could not be resisted by any magical artifact, Eric Carter completely lost his mind. He regretted not taking ten years out of his two hundred years of artifact forging to temper his physical body. He regretted being too impulsive and not making thorough preparations. He regretted...

But the massive blue-purple Great Annihilation Five Elements Divine Thunder paid no heed to Eric Carter's frenzied curses. With a deafening "boom," the thunderous roar completely drowned out Eric Carter's final hysterical shout of "I refuse to accept this...!"

All returned to dust and earth. Over a dozen top-tier magical artifacts, shining with various lights above Cangmang Mountain, instantly flew off in all directions. Having lost their master's aura, they became ownerless objects, and these highly spiritual artifacts vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.

Not long after those artifacts disappeared, three streaks of escaping light suddenly flashed from the surroundings, their colors indicating practitioners of the demonic, Buddhist, and Daoist paths.

"Who would have thought, really, who would have thought he couldn't survive the heavenly tribulation... Fate truly toys with people..." A Daoist in a green robe, with a pair of crescent-moon-like small eyes, paused midair and sighed with emotion.

"Amitabha, with Master Carter gone, I fear there will be no more suitable magical artifacts for us cultivators of the Central Plains. Alas!" An old monk with white eyebrows pressed his palms together in the air and sighed.

"Old September, Old Bald Whitebrow, stop pretending to be so damn mournful, spouting useless nonsense. Do you think your losses are greater than mine? I, The Elder, spent thirty years gathering all the materials for the Five Devouring Heaven Ghost Banners and entrusted them to him for forging. Now that Eric Carter is dead, I, The Elder, have lost everything!"

The Reverend of September and Master Whitebrow both turned their gazes to the red-haired, black-robed middle-aged man who was shouting. The Reverend of September, instead of being angry, laughed and said, "Hearing you say that, I, a poor Daoist, have finally found a silver lining after Benefactor Carter's utter annihilation—at least there is now one less evil artifact to plague the world."

"Bah..." The red-haired, black-robed man glared fiercely at The Reverend of September, spat out a sentence, then turned and flew off, "Today, The Elder is in no mood to waste words with you two old geezers. We'll settle accounts at the righteous-versus-evil sword contest at Kunlun in seven years!"

As the black-robed man flew away, The Reverend of September cupped his hands from afar toward Master Whitebrow and said, "Master, today I observed that The Elder of the Shadows's Nine Nether demonic aura is nearing perfection, and now that Benefactor Carter has been utterly destroyed, the 'Demon-Slaying Cauldron' our Kunlun Sect entrusted to him for forging is now but a fleeting cloud. The seven-year deadline is almost upon us, so I must make other plans. Farewell for now."

After returning the gesture, Master Whitebrow watched as the golden light of Kunlun's headmaster The Reverend of September faded into the distance, and shook his head with a helpless sigh, "How could I be any different? The holy relic I spent a hundred years refining has vanished along with Benefactor Carter. Heaven's will is unfathomable. Amitabha!"

Chapter Two: Rebirth Through Possession

The Shanghai Bund at night looked so splendid. It was National Day, and groups of students waved inflatable sticks as they chased and played along the Bund, their laughter adding to the festive atmosphere.

Suddenly, a scream for help came from the banks of the Huangpu River: "Help! Someone jumped into the water..."

The scream came from a short-haired girl with delicate features, looking no more than fifteen or sixteen. At this moment, her bright black eyes were full of anxiety and panic. She clung tightly to the railing, half her body leaning out as she desperately shouted, "Brian Cooper... Brian Cooper, don't scare me..." Tears were already welling up in her eyes.

The girl's cries drew a crowd, but no one jumped in to save the person. Instead, people started discussing among themselves. Seeing that no one was going in, the girl began to cry out loud in desperation, but she herself couldn't swim. Staring at the pitch-black river, her fingers gripping the railing had turned white from the force.

"Uncle, please, save Brian Cooper..." In her desperation, the girl grabbed the sleeve of a nearby middle-aged man and pleaded.

"Little girl, don't hold on to me! There are so many people here, go ask them. I can't swim." The middle-aged man hurriedly shook his head, broke free from the girl's grip, and retreated into the crowd, thinking to himself that there wasn't even a floating body in the river—how could anyone survive after falling in? He certainly didn't want to catch a cold or fever from jumping in to save someone.