Xu You's aura was god-like. He stood in the vast space, surrounded by the cascading brilliance of the rainbow walls, and his thin body, which seemed to contain little power, was shaking every single thing in existence—there was no exception.
The bodies of all the Spirits of War, including the Legion Commander Zhan Zheng, shook as if they were experiencing an internal earthquake, their Mystic Auras violently reacting to the Mystic Heart Intent that swept the world tyrannically.
The waves of explosive power unleashed by the Legion's efforts were dealt with in the blink of an eye by Xu You. With a single breath of his, everything was repulsed without exception, and he hadn't even twitched in the slightest to accomplish this feat!
By this single action, Xu You's nonchalance while facing an entire army of Ascended beings revealed the origins of his boundless confidence and relaxed attitude! As cultivators progressed, each phase of their stage of cultivation granted far greater prodigious power than the last. To Xu You, unless a hundred well-trained Earthly Saints performed a joint formation Empowered by Mystic-World graded materials or armaments, everything was a non-threat.
However, Xu You didn't take action against this pesky army after shutting down their assault. Throughout his long life, he was always a cautious figure, avoiding traps and keeping himself from offending those he couldn't. In his mind, these soldiers were acting on the orders of a powerful figure, and that figure certainly invested tons of resources and time into their growth and cultivation. If he slaughtered them, an undying grudge would form between them.
The one thing true experts hated the most was a reduction of their profits and assets.
After a soft snort filled with displeasure, he redirected his attention to inspecting the walls and continuing to pinpoint his opportunity to escape. By now, these soldiers should understand that his strength wasn't something they could handle with simple numbers.
"A Worldly Saint," Zhan Zheng's eyes beneath his helmet glinted with a sharp, war-ravaged light. This wasn't a simple Worldly Saint either. From his integrated knowledge, the levels of Mystic Aura fluctuations and depth of Worldly Pressure on the Mystic Dao were sufficient to conclude that this thin, dismissive elder of a cultivator was exceptional among Worldly Saints.
Xu You was a Lord of the Endless Voyage Realm's city, a position that granted unimaginable benefits and was fiercely fought over by others at this level, yet he claimed this seat in the end. Whether it was his knowledge of time and space or strength as a Worldly Saint, while he might not be a demonic existence, he was undoubtedly a powerhouse worthy of respect.
Zhan Zheng had once told Wei Wuyin that with the changes to the War Talisman after his continuous investments of War Souls, he should use them as a vanguard to sweep across the entire Grand Cyclic Stellar Regions. In his mind, if the Soul Saint King was considered a top three expert, then just him was enough to clean out the entire Stellar Region, let alone if they included the other nine Earthly Saints and 9,990 Demi-Mortal Lords under his command.
Not only were all of the Battalion Commanders at a level that could topple the Soul Saint King, the skill usage and foundations of the Sealed Regions were terrifyingly, pathetically low.
However, Xu You changed his opinion of the situation instantly.
While they didn't fear an average Worldly Saint, Xu You's Mystic Aura suggested that his cultivation base was supplemented by top-tier mystic-graded energies, Mystic-Earth-graded alchemical products, and World-tier Cultivation Methods like the Blood Origin Method.
A formidable opponent.
Normally this would be the War Commander's thoughts, but Zhan Zheng inwardly shook his head with a tinge of pity for this once potentially formidable opponent. Xu You's passivity was detrimental to being ambushed, and make no mistake—this was an ambush. It was beautifully executed, well-planned, and contained several contingencies that would have Xu You turned for a loop with baffled eyes and confusion bombarding his soul at every step.
Zhan Zheng didn't know what happened, but after that mortal Master of his reached the Temporal Eye Phase, he felt as if he saw a new man that had trudged through a thousand years of adversity, and his steeled determination was refined by endless suffering and overcoming outrageously difficulty obstacles. That renewed will and presence were as unyielding and hot as their desire for battle and blood.
It excited him.
It also terrified him.
But merely thinking about that silver-eyed monster that played them like a fiddle and beheaded him while facing overwhelming odds that even gods couldn't predict the outcome of, what will happen when a being of such supreme talents, intelligence, means, and willpower ascends, caused his soul to boil even hotter than solar stars.
As beings refined by his Soul Light, their upper limits were determined heavily by their controller's ability. If it wasn't for the Sealing Array being in place, and Wei Wuyin's plans for the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, he would have long stepped beyond the Earthly Saint Phase to rival Xu You. Then, they would be able to have a proper fight.
Unfortunately...
"It's time," Zhan Gu calmly stated. The other soldiers had been relatively silent despite their aroused states, ready for total war as if they were waiting for their moment. Facing a Worldly Saint, the air was taut, yet the confidence and fighting spirits in their eyes were exuberant and restless.
Xu You was busy deciphering, and after displaying his true strength, he firmly believed that he needn't exert another iota of power. The army here should be well aware that their difference was insurmountable. A truly pointless task to fight him. After all, should he remain content staying away from them, what could they possibly do to him?
He faintly grinned as he deciphered a weak point in the Sealing Formation, satisfied that the soldiers had got the hint and seemingly lost their pointless aggressive tactics. It seemed that the cool-headed dragon-head helmet-wearing Earthly Saint, who appeared to be their Commander, could determine when his opponent was vastly beyond his means.
As for fearing the likely Mystic Overlords acting themselves? That was pointless. Experts at that level had their movements monitored by all sorts of forces, and should any genuine expert above the Worldly Saint level dare to approach; they would be met by an Ascended Sovereign's Incarnation or long-range attack.
Death would be the only result then.
This was why Trueborn and the other organizations deluded by their nonsensical beliefs of the Sealed Regions, threatening to dispel the Sealing Array, had yet to be able to succeed despite the eighty thousand years since its inception. And why he, Lord of the City of Voyage, only felt that they were rats scurrying about trying to find loopholes in certain agreements. For example, setting such a tiny trap like this.
Tch.
Absolute fools.
His grin deepened.
Sniff.
Xu You's nose instinctively twitched as he sniffed slightly. After a brief inspection of his internal body and Mystic Soul, he ignored this spontaneous impulse, finding nothing irregular.
Sniff.
"..."
Sniff. Sniff.
What? Xu You frowned as he realized his nose was catching a faint fragrance. However, this isolated space was similar to the Dark Void, absent of air, water, and life-sustaining gasses, and smelling should be highly improbable, if not outright impossible, without air particulates to carry the fragrance.
Sniff. Sniff. Sniff!
"There's definitely a scent here," Xu You wasn't slow, so he swiftly concluded that there was a particular scent permeating throughout the world. He hastily halted his attempts to break free from the Sealing Array as his Spiritual Sense swept the world, even smashing against the joint Mystic Aura of the army of Ascended before him.
"Ha!" The Legion of War roared! Then, without hesitating, they rushed toward Xu You as one unit under the leadership of their Battalion Commanders. Their flight speed was disgustingly quick! Their auras were tyrannically imposing, suppressing all eight directions, and fueled by raw willpower to engage in bloody battle!
Xu You frowned slightly, but he couldn't pinpoint where the fragrance was coming from. But it mattered not; he scoffed with disdain and contempt as the army seemingly decided to launch a suicidal attack as a unit. He still didn't seek to engage them in battle. If they were deathsworn, no matter how unlikely and wasteful that might be, their joint self-detonation would still send shivers down his spine.
So he circulated his Mystic Power in a mystifyingly intricate manner within his body, preparing to unleash a profound movement art that relied on physical movement rather than spatial movement. With a single step, he would evade the incoming roaring soldiers without issue.
…Is what he thought.
Without warning, he found that his Mystic Power was sluggish, and the foundation of its existence was crumbling, as if something was leeching away at its essence with a world-devouring ferocity!
BOOM!
The Legion's movements were simple—a raw tackle! They barreled toward Xu You and violently smashed against him.
Instinctively, Xu You responded by circulating his Mystic Power to erect a Mystic Ward. He succeeded; the Mystic Ward protected his physical body as he was pushed a hundred miles back. He pushed out a single palm toward them, instantly causing their momentum to halt.
His physical strength was disgustingly horrifying to witness! Despite not being a body cultivator or a beast, his body had been refined to the point where a single clap of his hand could snuff out Solar Stars and ruin entire Starfields. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Xu You possessed genuinely god-like powers amongst Ascended beings.
"What is this?!" Xu You shouted.