Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

"ARRRRGGGHHHH!!!" A hellish, heart-wrenching, horrifyingly loud shriek filled with immense pain pierced through the world.

This world was the inside of a small cubical room. Despite being called ’small’ it was two li in area. It was completely golden, but a dull gold that didn’t blind with its shine. The dull gold radiated light, making it seem as if it was day.

Within this enclosed box, a figure that was essentially a mesh of blood, jade-like bones, mangled and indistinguishable flesh laid there with its mouth gaped open. The voice after the initial scream was nothing more than a hoarse whimper.

The legs, arms, neck, and torso of this body were nearly ripped apart. It was as if a small tether of flesh connected all these individual parts that were once a complete whole. The face of this figure had a collapsed in half, no eye, nose, or teeth on the right side of its face. Even half his brain seemed to have been crushed.

It was as if someone had divided it with a perfect line.

"Gurgle!" Blood sprayed from its mouth and its body twitched uncontrollably. Its remaining eye contained a trace of amber-gold but it was essentially dull.

This horrifyingly nightmarish figure was Yan Zaizen!

"Pina...Pinaka!" He tried to speak but the words were nearly gibberish. His soul felt suppressed by some ancient, profound force that exists and felt like it always will. He couldn’t galvanize any energy - true-essence, vital energy, or soul energy.

He couldn’t even reach Pinaka. He could feel her presence, but he couldn’t hear her.

He twitched again. He was in so much pain. It was as if god’s hammer and devil’s blade went to work on his entire body. The damage exceeded any damage he’d ever suffered before. He even wanted to pass out, but whenever he tried, the pain would keep him awake. If anyone was in his position, they would’ve already died.

"What the hell!" His thoughts were filled with curses. Was the trial for the unnamed warhammer a deathtrap? If so, curse the eighteen generations and another eighteen generations of the person responsible!

Wait.

His remaining eye wiggled without stability in its socket. It was barely attached. It spun around like a billiard ball. He took in what he could before he lost connection when it fell out.

"A golden room...why a room?" He questioned. If someone wanted to kill with certainty, an absolute death zone in the myriad realms would’ve been a better place.

He calmed down, at least the best he could with his current circumstances.

Boom!

A resounding boom echoed. An ancient aura radiated that caused Yan Zaizen to shiver slightly. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see.

While he was struggling, the Immortal Herculean Physique was already displaying its heaven-defying capabilities. His neck, arms, and legs were reconnecting completely with his torso. His mashed organs were reconstructing with a faint trace of golden light.

"You." A voice filled with rough and deep tone spoke. "You have survived the trial." The voice finished.

"What?!" Yan Zaizen was shocked dumb, literally. What trial? This was a sneak attack, you bastard!

Afterward, the voice and aura dissipated as if it was disappearing. Yan Zaizen felt the need to punch and rob the voice for all its worth. If it had gold teeth, he would take that too! If he had good hair, he’d take that too! Hell, if his vital yang was still there! He’d put it to damn good use!

The grievance in his heart was earth-shattering.

It took Yan Zaizen a full hour before his body was restored to full.

Crack!

He cracked his neck in frustration, the look in his eyes was a lot less evil now that he had time to think about it. The trial was essentially to have a strong enough physique to survive an unsuspecting attack. Without any energy to use, simply your body alone.

He felt that he understood why no one survived. If it was based off vital energy or highest cultivation, then it’s unlikely anyone could. After all, only divine beasts take the Bestial Path. The normal bodily path focuses primarily on vital energy enhancement, not physique refinement.

The Immortal Herculean Method focuses on physique refinement, and he has lifeforce energy that helps. With this, his physical body could easily rival a third-floor Heavenly Genesis expert alone. His vital energy was remarkably weaker, being an entire floor lower.

If the attack took his vital energy levels as a determining factor, then the blow he sustained was likely a full powered blow from a fourth-floor Heavenly Genesis expert. That’s like Yan Zaizen taking an attack from Yu Shi without his lifeforce energy or vital energy.

He would actually be in a far worse state.

No one could survive that standard.

Heavily sighing in helplessness, he felt wronged yet also understood. After all, it was a red trial, the hardest trial with the highest difficulty in Grand Sirius. Recalling that difficulty translated to risk of dying. Now, it made sense.

Taking a look around, he saw the unnamed warhammer. It had a silver shaft that was two meters, a large hammer with a curved back, and golden inscriptions. It radiated a faint golden light and looked heavier than a world, mightier than a realm, and more fearsome than death itself.

Yan Zaizen’s eyes lit up.

He walked over and grasped the handle. A trace of light surged into his mind. A string of information entered.

"Transcending Imperial Sky Warhammer of Chi?" Yan Zaizen muttered the name of the warhammer. The moment he heard that name, he shrugged. "Sky Shatter sounds better, less of a mouthful. If the sky represents all things physical, then this represented shattering all skies." After deciding that, Yan Zaizen sifted through the rest of the information.

This was an armament, but not a normal one. It didn’t have a Spirit Form or True Spirit within. Instead, there were multi-complex formations that seemed like a maze of absolute mind-boggling chaos. It was so complex that he imagined that there were likely a million different formations in the hammer’s head alone.

He understood that, in olden times, True Spirits or Spirit Forms, weren’t added to weapons. Instead, formations were all that was required. A true weapon that you and you alone use. After the adding of the heaven-defying True Spirit, the ease of usage and creation shifted popularity.

For example, even Yan Zaizen could use Pinaka with little strain. This meant that all cultivators in a generation could, theoretically, have spirit-rank armaments. It was cheaper and spirit forms have access to laws and can teach the junior generation. They can also evolve, so there was no need to throw away thousands to tens of thousands of years in work for a better, more suitable weapon after your first one can no longer keep up.

This type of weapon became obsolete.

Lifting it, Yan Zaizen felt a strange resonance, as if it was meant to be in his hands. "Good hammer!" He remarked.

"Unfortunately, there’s no conceptual methods with this hammer or arts. It’s just a warhammer." He slightly sighed but comforted himself a little by reminding how good the hammer felt in his hands.

"Alright...let’s go." He tapped the warhammer on the floor and the box collapsed. This was the method given to him to exit. Only by wielding the warhammer is escape possible. A golden glow covered him and he disappeared.