Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

Inspecting Ezekiel’s situation, Yan Zaizen’s brows furrowed, a calculating shine erupted from his eyes. The dim light within his Ezekiel’s eyes contained a trace of the soul. No, it would be incorrect to say a ’trace’ but more like it contained a small amount of the quintessential essence of spirituality. This essence was boundless, insidious, and mind-shaking.

The chains were different. It was comprised of an energy he had met once before. "In the Asura Phantom Realm, my soul was snared and constricted by energy similar...but far weaker." Yan Zaizen recalled the moment he faced death, his body dying, and his soul trapped and diminishing. His soul trembled slightly, but quickly settled into a calm.

The memory was too haunting to dwell on.

"Infernal...?" As he continued to think, Ezekiel’s soul form was being strangled as the chains seemed to tighten. They were currently embedded into his soul form, causing his soul energy to dissipate.

"Ezekiel is fighting somehow...I need more time." His eyes brightened, a dark-grey flashed within his eyes. His eyes looked like a storm of time, eternally changing and ever-present. He grasped the empty space.

Mystic Realm of Isolation!

A ripple surged. Ezekiel’s rate of losing soul energy decreased considerably. It was as if the space he existed in was ten thousand times slower.

Yan Zaizen knew that Ezekiel’s bindings were connected to this space. The chains seem to be unable to be moved, so instead, Yan Zaizen constructed a realm of space with Ezekiel as its center. In this space, time flowed considerably slower.

"This only buys me a few seconds," Yan Zaizen calculated briefly. A few seconds to mortals may be a few breaths, but to Yan Zaizen, it was enough to come up with a million different thoughts.

He turned towards Dracula, his eyes flashing. He knew that if he could kill him, the current situation may cease immediately. This was the same method the old man attempted before vanishing. However, he was shrouded by a barrier. This barrier was profound and unfathomable, as if it was a heaven of its own.

"He used his entire cultivation to protect himself?" Dracula hadn’t wished for a stray dog to come up when his soul was at its weakest and kill him when he couldn’t take any action. If that happened, all his plans would be for naught. Therefore, he gave up his entire cultivation to protect himself from all threats at this critical moment.

"Intelligent, decisive, and possesses unfathomable methods." Yan Zaizen coldly speculated as he turned his gaze away. With his current cultivation base, he couldn’t breakthrough or enter that barrier. With the energy within, even if he devoured it, it’s unlikely he could devour it all in a few seconds, not unless the main black hole activated.

The energy of a Heavenly Creation expert was unimaginable. To them, a sub-realm collapse was a tap of their finger away or a light breeze to their defenses.

"Okay," Yan Zaizen didn’t dally any further, if he did, its possible Ezekiel’s life would be lost. He wasn’t sure if he could help, but he would try. With his unyielding confidence, how could he back down?

His eyes shifted in quality, no longer containing time, but a dark-white color, nearly impossible to describe regarding appearance. The only recognizing factor was its endlessness, unbreakable essence, and absolution towards all things souls.

"Spirituality...souls..." Murmuring, Yan Zaizen felt a sensation of enlightenment. However, he forcefully shoved the thoughts down, honing his complete focus on Ezekiel. The chains themselves seemed to be alive, but only that it emitted faint traces of soulforce, the energy equivalent to lifeforce for souls.

Observing them at a decreased time flow left Yan Zaizen feeling slightly breathless. The chains were like an ocean, an ocean of soulforce that changed constantly. It was as if it was constructed of a thousand, no, tens of thousands, no...an infinite amount of different souls!

These souls would change, constantly replenishing the energy in the chains and dragging Ezekiel’s soul energy with it. It felt like Ezekiel’s soul energy wasn’t dissipating; instead, his soul energy would be snagged by a soul and carried off to somewhere unknown. Thi ’somewhere unknown’ was likely hell!

"It’s like hell itself is trying to take his soul! Regardless of their oddity, these chains are souls!" As he came to this conclusion, he tapped out.

This tap was done with his finger, and it pressed on Ezekiel’s soul. However, as the finger touched his soul, it phased through it. At the moment, Yan Zaizen and Ezekiel existed on two separate and independent realm spaces. They may be able to see each other, but their time-flow and current locations were similar to chaotic space and the spatial void.

They exist near, one relying on the other, but wholly segregated. Despite this, the finger inserted itself into the chains. Yan Zaizen withdrew this finger, then tapped out again on another part of the chain. This continued for a total of nine times and each time left a glimmer of light.

"The chains definitely originate from a Hell Altar and has soul energy in its purest form at its core. I’m unsure of its name, but infernal essence may be the best name... it’s like heavenly essence but embodies the souls!" The chains were indeed comprised of infernal essence, the purest form of soul essence.

The nine lights started to grow dimmer and dimmer until they vanished. When this happened, Yan Zaizen’s eyes brightened. An aura of death emerged from the chains, as if its essence were undergoing its final breath.

"The Law of Samsara governs soul death, soul life, and soul stability...If my comprehension was greater, these chains would collapse with a thought!" The chains continued dying, slowly dimming and losing their restraint on Ezekiel. Despite time being ten thousand times slower for Ezekiel, Yan Zaizen could visibly see the chains diminish in strength.

However, Yan Zaizen’s body felt a surge of weakness. All the heavenly might in his body was infused into those nine taps, draining him considerably. His heavenly shrine turned dim; its surging might fell into a quiet slumber.

However, Yan Zaizen only warily smiled. This was the result of giving it his all.

Dracula, however, eyes were as wide as full moons and horrified as a child seeing its hope crushed! "How?!" He questioned, his mind unable to comprehend the course of events. If one looked closely, his eyes and lips were twitching uncontrollably.

A young man appeared suddenly, slowed down Ezekiel’s soul energy degradation with a grasp, then started to weaken the chains to the point they were dimmer than the light in his eyes! All of this felt ludicrous!

"He only has a sixth-floor heavenly cultivation base! How?!?!" Feeling his sanity slowly wither, Dracula felt a heart-wrenching, soul-crushing sensation of defeat. Ezekiel truly was the boy of fortune. It was as if the heavens were unwilling to let him die!

Yan Zaizen didn’t bother with him. With his cultivation gone, he couldn’t take any action but watch in disbelief.

"..." A second passed. The chains were dimmer and at the brink of vanishing, but they didn’t disappear. Instead, they started growing brighter, stronger! "What?!" It was Yan Zaizen’s time to be shocked, his eyes wide and his mind trembling.

It was only after further observation that he cursed the thirty-three heavens, "The Law of Samsara governs life and death of the soul, but the chains are comprised of pure infernal essence. It’s galvanizing my law concept as its own, adopting its characteristics, undergoing samsara at its end! How can it do that?" The very method was how heavenly shrines were born. All Yan Zaizen did was provide a concept for it to feed off of.

"I...I..." Yan Zaizen was at a lost. Normally, this shouldn’t be possible. After all, infernal essence was not heavenly essence. The laws of Samsara originate from the heavens...

Or...

Yan Zaizen furrowed his brows deeply. The vision he saw when he comprehended Samsara emerged. "Is infernal essence..." The thought of his previous theory arose, that the Border Expanse was a collapsed universe. This universe had layers preventing specific creatures of spirituality from interacting with the thirty-three heavens, especially realm or sub-realms.

The only time they are seen, and only a fraction of those spiritual entities, were in the Border Expanse. A place without essence.

"Haaa..." Sighing deeply, he removed the Mystic Realm of Isolation. His eyes turned into two swirling holes of blackness. This blackness seemed intent on devouring all the spirituality in existence.

After trying normal methods, his soul bloodline was his only choice left. However, if he devoured the chains that were infusing into Ezekiel’s soul, he was unsure if he could avoid harming Ezekiel. If he miscalculated by the slightest, Ezekiel might even die!

"Do...it..." Ezekiel struggled to say, his voice the epitome of weakness, but his eyes were decisive. Dracula had sealed his connection to the Origin, his compass from his father had failed him, and he was slowly wasting away by these chains, if this continued, he knew his end would be horrible.

Yan Zaizen had absorbed the physicality of his mask, so he felt that Yan Zaizen had a means or method with his black hole. Regardless if he ends up consuming him like last time, at least his soul wouldn’t be trapped in Hell for eternity!

Others may not know about Hell, but he did, and he feared it.

Greatly!

Hearing those words, Yan Zaizen no longer hesitated, his False Grand Dao erupting within his soul, revealing a brilliant layer of amber-gold around his body. It was like a semi-transparent sheet cloaking his entire body.

Absolute Dao Merge!

The black hole was interconnected to the strength of his soul, thus he boosted it to its limits. After all, these chains seemed to contain the concept of hell itself!

His eyes continued to swirl rapidly, devouring all things spiritual. A strand of dim, indiscernible in color light flowed from the chains and into his eyes. This strand was like a thread in a hand-knitted sweater, it comprised of the entire thing!

The chains started to shrink, diminishing greatly in all aspects. Ezekiel’s soul energy was no longer being subjected by its powers. Instead, it was attempting to resist the pull of Yan Zaizen’s eyes!

Shreeeeeeee!!!

Shrieks of horror, enough to make ghosts piss themselves and demons run, echoed out! Yan Zaizen’s black holes ceased all movements.

"What..." Yan Zaizen felt his soul stall, as if the sound had frozen him in fear.

"Who dares?!" An ambiguous voice sounded from the void, it contained no clear characteristics of male or female, but had an odd reverb to it. Dracula’s expression changed, his eyes were so wide that a part of his eyes was outside of its sockets. The entire sequence of events left him aghast shocked, a lofty heaven-rivaling existence!

With a voice that sounded as if someone had stepped on his manhood, Dracula screamed, "What have you done?!?!"