“He isn’t human!!”

Heavenfire’s words rippled across the crafters, but none of them seemed to understand him. “Heavenfire,” Chu Yintian narrowed his eyes, “What do you mean by that? What problem is there with this Dongfang Ming?”

“You should’ve been able to sense the abnormality, but…you haven’t thought about looking for it—Dongfang Ming doesn’t have the aura of a soul cultivator to me, he’s more like a…soul armament!!”

“A soul armament?!” The confusion grew even deeper amongst the crafters. How could a living being possibly be a soul armament?

But Chu Yintian, Yang Yao, and Hu Yang all looked as though they realized something. Thinking back to the feelings when they had their soul armaments destroyed by Dongfang Ming, they each remembered something they initially thought preposterous.

“Heavenfire,” Chu Yintian was beginning to connect the dots, “do you mean to say…by using his own body, Dongfang Ming forged a ‘demonic body’?!”

“Yes! One of the rumored demonic armaments from ancient times—a demonic body! By using the body as the material and the soul as the catalyst, a demonic body can be forged!

“There’s no doubt about it! The way his soul fluctuates…is exactly like a soul armament! That’s why he isn’t affected by my abilities. He can overcome the domain’s effects, and since he’s also a spirit of the armament now…he can suppress soul armaments just as I can! He is no longer human, but a soul armament! A demon armament!”

Dongfang Ming was a...demon armament?!

Everyone felt lost listening to Heavenfire, even Yang Yao. Probing at the aura within the cocoon as he looked at it, Yang Yao began to believe what Heavenfire was saying. That aura was definitely more like a soul armament than a human!

“He is, for the most part, immortal until his demonic core is destroyed. Without that being destroyed, he’ll be able to regenerate from even the worst wounds!” Heavenfire explained, “I’ve met a soul cultivator who attempted to forge a demonic body before, but they failed and perished. I never imagined another person would ever attempt to forge one, let alone succeed! This…is a feat on the level of a Regalia! No regular soul armament is enough to defeat a demonic body, this will be troublesome…”

“……”

The more the crafters listened to Heavenfire speak, the more anxious they became. It filled their hearts with dread to hear about what having a ‘demonic body’ entailed—if Dongfang Ming had such a body like this, how could they possibly defeat him then?

……

The pool of lightning around Dongfang Ming’s cocoon was finally starting to dissipate. Everyone watched as it did, Dong Wanlei seemed content in doing nothing else but stare at the cocoon intensely. To him, he could see the cocoon Dongfang Ming was in start to look a little singed, but what he was really focusing on was the person within it.

Pulsating rhythmically like a heartbeat, the dark-red light from the cocoon began to shine even brighter and brighter. Soon, the intensity of the light was strong enough to drown out the violet light from the lightning.

“Boom!!”

There was an ear-deafening explosion as the cocoon split apart to reveal someone within.

“He’s fully healed!!”

Several people let out loud gasps when they saw Dongfang Ming. Though the robes were gone, the rest of Dongfang Ming’s person was completely unblemished. He…was well and fully healed back to full health!

The wound he sustained over his shoulder from the sword strike and the deep hole in his chest from the spear. Both of those wounds were gone!

Even his aura was completely different. Before, it fluctuated weakly due to his injuries, but now it flowed abundantly like waves in a boundless ocean. He was clearly back to full power, and the smug sneer on his face was the last proof anyone needed to see to show for it.

“Absorbing soul armaments nurtured over a century is as satisfying as I thought it’d be. I can feel myself close to becoming a Mid-stage Soul Emperor…” Dongfang Ming remarked to himself with glee. Flexing the fingers in his hand, he stared back at the rest of the Crafting School with a greedy expression.

“Chu Yintian’s still alive?” His eyebrows raised by a fraction on his forehead. He thought that Dong Wanlei would’ve been able to kill Chu Yintian during his period of recuperation. “I remember…” He muttered, “I remember seeing Chu Yintian’s avatar for a moment…did he sacrifice his avatar then? If that’s the case, he is no longer a match for Dong Wanlei…

“Almost all of the freaks have been driven out from their hiding holes. Only one person is left, the one who is rumored to be just a single step away from Sainthood. I wonder…

“Why hasn’t he shown up yet if he’s still alive? Could he possibly be waiting for the Soul Emperors to die before he comes out? But…that doesn’t matter. Whether he shows up or not, the Soul Refining School still has that…”

Stepping away, Dongfang Ming flew off in the direction of Dong Wanlei.

“I believe we are ready for the final step in the plan—there is nothing left to fear from our enemies.”

He spoke to Dong Wanlei and the others that stood vigilantly behind him.

The injuries of Chu Yintian, Yang Yao, Hu Yang, and Zi Jin could be attributed primarily to Dongfang Ming’s appearance. The momentum of the Crafting School was halted immediately the moment when Dongfang Ming appeared. If anything, Dongfang Ming was responsible for almost singlehandedly crushing the Crafting School’s resistance.

“Eh?”

Before Dong Wanlei could reply to him, Dongfang Ming turned around to stare off toward the left at something.

He had sensed something coming from that direction. Something that shouldn’t be there. It was a wave of fire.

“Who is that!?”

Chu Yintian noticed the abnormality as well at that moment.

“This presence…” Heavenfire muttered in glee, “That’s Core and Sentinel! That Bai Yunfei has returned!!”