Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

As Lady Ching-chien pressed her finger forward, ripples emerged in the world. It initiated from her finger and expanded like a forming hurricane, enlarging and engulfing more of the world. A heavenly might, ethereal as the spirit itself, seemed to manifest from those ripples containing profound laws.

Yan Zaizen’s dash remained unhindered. A blazing trail was left behind, burning with all sorts of power, and his figure was like a comet in the starry skies.

Within her quarters on her skyship, Lady Ching-chien softly muttered, "Spirit Enfeeblement." Those words echoed in the hearts and souls of every last living existence for a million miles. Those in the skyships with tremendous strength frowned simultaneously, their cultivation bases rotating as they fought against the force. Even still, many felt their souls wither and quiver, as if infused with weaknesses.

Emperor Bloodfire was one of the few mostly unaffected by Lady Ching-chien’s actions, but Crown Prince Crimsonblaze felt the impact, his eyes flashing with all sorts of spiritual images. Abruptly, crimson flames emerged from within his pupils. They blazed vehemently in resistance, burning away the foreign soul might that had invaded his soul.

After a short period, he had broken free from the bewitchment, but his face was paler than death, whiter than snow, and dispirited. He said between exhausted breaths, "This! She actually used this divine art?!"

Emperor Bloodfire sighed, realizing that Crimsonblaze still had quite a ways to learn. "You were only affected by the ambient effects, not even its target. Less than a thousandth of its power was felt." His words were softly said, but it caused Crown Prince Crimsonblaze’s expression to shift instantly. If this was weakened to that extent, then what about Yan Zaizen?

He couldn’t help but remark, "I guess this is over then." Yan Zaizen’s cultivation base was only at the Ninth-Floor of the Heavenly Genesis Realm, and while that cultivation level was impressive, he still lacked in some aspects. For Heavenly Cultivators, their heavenly might directly refines and strengthen their soul’s protective measures, so lacking cultivation also meant lacking defenses. Regardless of how strong he was, this was a fundamental difference he could never exceed.

Emperor Bloodfire remained silent, his heavenly sense focused directly on this exchange. If this person was the ’Key’, then his accomplishments in the Heavenly Law of Soul shouldn’t be weak. He was deeply interested in what confidence this young man has to tackle their entire force alone.

Yan Zaizen, however, didn’t care for his interest. A blackhole had already formed at his glabella as the ripples converged on his position. These ripples were invisible, soul constructs that seemed intent to burrow into his soul and instill a curse of unknown and epic proportions, but he held no fear towards these types of attacks. If it was before his advancement of the fusion between the blackhole and his soul, perhaps he would have some caution. However, not now.

He needed to be fierce and direct, brutal and vicious. He had to allow everyone to understand that fighting him meant putting your very life on the line and you’ll definitely lose it. From his deduction and how no one came to defend or assault him after the destruction of one power, including their different insignia’s displayed on their skyships, all of these were independent powers with their own desires.

If he made them unafraid to take the first step, robbing them wouldn’t be a problem, let alone escaping.

The ripples entered his soul. He felt a vibration within and it trickled into it, but disappeared like a drop of water in a vast ocean. In fact, the heavenly might was directly devoured, ruthlessly and instantly. The attack, Spirit Enfeeblement, was dealt with without a single conscious action of his own. He was startled momentarily. Had it become this advanced?

When he got to this point, his eyes blazed. Recently, his cultivation base had risen rapidly, and he’s been trying to familiarize himself with his new laws and powers. However, he hadn’t taken the blackhole into deep enough consideration. After all, it could absorb spirituality, physicality, and essence. Before, it was merely a cultivation support and soul defense. Now it was one with him.

"I see," he felt his newfound power. He sped up, pushing through the ripples until he arrived before the cyan and white skyship. The onlookers gawked, unsure of why Yan Zaizen could power through the Spirit Enfeeblement Divine Art without an issue. They didn’t have much time to process a thought.

Yan Zaizen arrived before the skyship, saw its defensive arrays and formations and coldly snorted. The disdain in this snort was immense, as if it was an Emperor looking down on the trash of this world. Lady Ching-chien was startled, her eyes brightened as she turned finger into palm, palm into fist, and punched forward softly. A wave of soul-type heavenly might penetrated all forms of physical obstruction, including the formations and arrays with utter ease, arriving before Yan Zaizen at unexcelled speed.

Standing upright, Yan Zaizen didn’t bother with this attack. It smashed into him, entering his soul with the intention of severely crippling and injuring it beyond repair. Yet Yan Zaizen stood wholly unaffected, his amber-gold eyes radiated a form of imperial disdain and contempt.

Lady Ching-chien was a Heavenly Monarch, her cultivation base was high, and her heavenly sense was mighty; therefore, she witnessed it all. Yan Zaizen, also, was looking at her directly through the skyship formations and arrays, his expression and faint smirk made her uneasy. This made her, a force that had dominated the Heavenly Origin Grounds for millions of years, to feel enraged within her heart. However, she held onto a necklace with some religious symbol and chanted a word or two, calming down that uneasiness and rage.

"Be obedient. Be captured, and I’ll ensure your life." Her words echoed throughout the world, startling the others. They were incredibly arrogant and suffused with the utmost confidence and calm.

Master Qiankun smiled, his old body trembling as he faintly chuckled.

Yan Zaizen sneered. His entire being started to emanate soul energy. "You want to have a battle with the soul as the battleground? You’re too weak, too green, too old. COME HERE!" His words were explosive at the end. The sky roiled and the earth trembled. As he did so, a new world was born.

This world engulfed the skyship and himself, isolating him and the skyship from everyone else. Abruptly, a hazy mist formed that seemed to take the place of their earlier position.

Crown Prince Crimsonblaze balked at the events, "What just happened?!"

Emperor Bloodfire’s eyes turned solemn, "He brought her into a soul world. How...interesting."

"A soul world?" Disbelief was tangible within the Crown Prince’s voice. He tried to send his heavenly sense into the hazy domain but he felt it sever, as if it entered a vast, unfathomably pressurized ocean. He directly staggered, blood trickling from his lips and nose. "What the..."

Emperor Bloodfire shook his head in disappointment, "A Soul World isn’t something you can enter with your heavenly sense. It’s structured with pure soul energy, a byproduct of the Soul Source Path. It’s something only those who’ve reached the Divine level can grasp. To think his interpersonal inspection and abilities have already reached this point. If that’s the case, then that old bat will likely suffer."

In another skyship, with Master Qiankun and Qian Li.

Qian Li: "Soul Source Path? Soul World?"

Master Qiankun nodded.

Qian Li felt shocked. She wasn’t ignorant of this path that cultivates the soul, but despite being one of the few paths enabled within the Heavenly Origin Grounds, it wasn’t a strong avenue for power. While it had its uses, it was wholly weak because very few could rival a Heavenly Commander, let alone a Heavenly Monarch. However, the Divine Soul level which belongs to that ancient sect was quite accomplished with it. They were the ones who coined the term: "Soul World."

It meant an area established of their soul. The Soul Source Path is all about introspection and personal development and belief, understanding the truths of the self to comprehend the source of power. Every soul has the potential to exceed the limits, gain enlightenments to become a god, or even an Immortal existence, yet it was unfathomably, stupendously, notoriously difficult to accomplish.

"He’s reached the Divine Soul level? He has ties with those people?" She had a faint skepticism in her voice. She wasn’t the only one, every onlooker had profound knowledge and experience, understanding what this was.

"Haha, it’s not so simple." Master Qiankun said with a sly smile. He continued to look at the world of haze that engulfed Yan Zaizen and Lady Ching-chien’s skyship.

In a tiny world, Lady Ching-chien was startled. Her willowy figure turned around as she inspected her surroundings. She immediately realized the reality of the matter. Gazing upon her hands, faint traces of cyan light circulated ceaselessly in protection. She was currently a white misty form, a soul, and within her body was a flickering flame - her soul flame. Those cyan light was her heavenly cultivation and manifestations of her heavenly shrine and soul-type heavenly might. She was currently in her soul form.

A voice, as grand and godly as can be, resounded with thunderous booms. "Welcome to my world."

Despite being in her soul form, her expression still shifted. Her soul flame flickered wildly in agitation. She wasn an accomplished soul cultivator, cultivating in the heavenly laws of the soul, and could be considered widely knowledgeable in regards to the soul. Therefore, she knew that what she cultivated was an external soul power, not an internal one. The Soul Source Path cultivates the internal, and enabled some very mystical and mythical feats.

For one, was the Soul World, a divine construct of one’s self. In this world, only the soul remains and one’s physical body would be segregated. She knew her body was still there, unharmed, and her soul was only drawn into this world without her consent.

"You’re cultivated the Divine Soul?!" She exclaimed in question, but her voice still radiated a sense of calm and serenity. She truly had an exceptionally strong mentality that couldn’t be broken without a major event.

Yan Zaizen hadn’t appeared, but his voice still boomed. "Divine Soul? Inferior and distasteful. I am not the Divine! The Divine is flawed, unsure, and surpassable. However, I am ME. I am perfect, without flaw, without regret, and with a sense of perfect self and understanding."

Her soul form’s expression once more changed, "What?" She felt confused. While Yan Zaizen’s words were simple to understand, her mind felt it to be hazy and harmful. Her soul quaked and twisted just at the sound of his voice, and she couldn’t properly hear his every word.s

"How fragile. Before a true practitioner of the soul, you’re only a novice before a master." Yan Zaizen said once more before deciding to end this.

Abruptly, an image of a palm, grander than the heavens, more hellish than the eighteen hells, and as vast as the void itself emerged.

Lady Ching-chien exclaimed in shock, her soul-type heavenly might started to act defensively, but it was as if an ant tried to resist a mountain. Perhaps if she hadn’t entered Yan Zaizen’s Soul World, she would’ve been able to use her cultivation base and heavenly might to contend against him, even without her soul-type heavenly might, but currently, she was helpless.

While in regards to actual strength, Yan Zaizen’s soul energy wasn’t at the level of her soul-type heavenly might, but she was in his Soul World.

She was in HIS SOUL!

The palm wrapped around her ruthlessly and clenched. A faint resistance emerged between the creases of the skin of the palm before a horrific pop sound resounded.