Xu You exhaled his last breath.
The dying wane of it was tragic to hear; there was unwillingness, confusion, and disbelief within it. The abrupt finality of his death lingered throughout the air as the Legion of War silently paid their utmost respect. Whether he was a vile existence, an enemy they held the strongest of grudges against, or simply an unfortunate soul caught amid vengeance, it mattered not—his cultivation base reflected his effort, willpower, and journey with immaculate precision.
He was exceptional in life.
He deserved the respect that experts earned.
Wei Wuyin's saber trembled slightly as the ebbing of his life, the abrupt conclusion of it all, flowed away with a twist of force, devastating the remnants of Xu You's Mystic Soul and depleting the remaining signs of life within his body.
"..." Wei Wuyin silently observed the corpse of this Worldly Saint with the most serene eyes. However, when his eyes reflected the visage of Xu You, memories flashed through his mind that weren't his yet felt like his. It took him a while to break free from the quagmire of those vivid memories.
With a sickening sound of a saber slicing flesh, he yanked out Element from Xu You's abdomen. There was no carefulness in his actions; Xu You's Mystic Soul fragmented into countless specks of brilliant light that illuminated his insides. Xu You's soul had begun to undergo the natural progression of the life and death cycle—the heavens claimed what they needed to.
Wei Wuyin brought out the Nexus War Flag, bringing it before Xu You as it began to thrum and sounds of chaotic war started to resound. The scent of blood wafted out, the blood in one's body flowed slightly faster, and the eyes of the soldiers became increasingly dignified by the second.
You keep what you kill; this was a principle of the Dao of War, as everlasting as life itself. Wei Wuyin had used the support of three Earthly Saints and his Legion of War to act on his behalf, but since the beginning, his actions and schemes contributed the most to Xu You's death.
At normal times, if a cultivator tried to seize the fortune of others through the Dao of War using an army without participating, merely claiming the last hit, the Dao of War would not only reject them, but it would punish them in a way that the heavens will not interfere. It would summon its Quintessential Law and curse those who tried to insult its power.
This punishment would lead to a horrific, painfully terrifying death. There was a chance that one's soul would be eradicated, forever severing their karma with the world.
The Nexus War Flag was a treasured instrument of war, capable of harnessing the power of the Quintessential Law that the Dao of War has marked beneath the heavens—the Law of War. It can evoke its principles if brought to a high enough level, making it a Supreme Heavenly Treasure!
The Heavenly War Spirit hadn't told him this; he learned it from those memories of his alternative self. The Endless Void Mirror was inferior to the Nexus War Flag. The only difference was their respective functions, and the Nexus War Flag's growth potential was disgustingly high, while the Endless Void Mirror's strength was static unless reforged.
That said, Wei Wuyin had fulfilled the requirement to claim Xu You as his spoils of war. His contribution to this fight was the highest. Not only had he fielded the Legion of War, but he also devised the strategy like a General, harnessing the power of the Time Vortex and three Earthly Saints of his Legion to capitalize on its ridiculously high-level time energies that could affect the refined physique of a Worldly Saint, and concocted and personally refined the Myriad Gravestone Poison.
Even Xu You was terrified by the power of the Present Time Energies in that formation. It threatened him, and Xu You knew that he had to find a way to circumvent it, not face it head-on without a plan. If it wasn't for the Present Time Energy formation, Xu You would've long since escaped.
Lastly, he dealt the finishing blow.
There was no doubt that this entire ambush was Wei Wuyin's most remarkable feat on a battlefield. Unfortunately, he planned it all for that dastardly little bitch, not Xu You; nevertheless, he was content with his gains.
The Nexus War Flag went to work. The actions went beyond Wei Wuyin's senses, still unable to see things pertaining to the Mystic Dao despite his newfound cultivation base at the Temporal Eye Phase. So he held the Nexus War Flag out and allowed the Heavenly War Spirit to handle the circulation of its profound ability.
Xu You's fragmented Mystic Soul was sucked into the Nexus War Flag. Then, his skin became liquefied as it followed like droplets of water. Then, his muscles. Then, his internal organs. Then, his bones.
Until nothing was left.
Wei Wuyin knew that only his Soul couldn't be claimed as a Spoil of War through the power of the Dao of War. Much like other Daos, many refused to directly resist the natural orders of things that were governed and deemed necessary by the Heavenly Daos, especially the process of Samsara. The extraction of souls was the greatest taboo beneath the heavens, and damaging them was one of the greatest sins.
Wei Wuyin's eyes exuded an innate time energy that allowed his gaze to contain the vicissitudes of time. From the debonair Wei Wuyin's memories, he knew that when one reached the Resonant Soul Realm, they no longer were protected by this law. At least not directly.
Wei Wuyin had learned a lot from that version of himself, but he hadn't learned one thing: the Third Calamity of Hell. If one calculated the time, if Wei Wuyin hadn't slayed any Blessed leading to him forcefully accelerating his remaining time, as long as he survived the Second Calamity, he would've faced the Third Calamity at the age of one hundred and twenty-eight.
The debonair Wei Wuyin was on the cusp of challenging his Third Calamity. Moreover, he had no confidence in succeeding. The plan that Wei Wuyin intended to rely on after acquiring Wen Mingna's help wasn't something that Wei Wuyin could use for many, many different reasons.
In Wei Wuyin's eyes, that version of himself would have certainly died at his current stage and strength. There was no doubt in his mind of this outcome—a truly pitiful fate.
In truth, Wei Wuyin still didn't know if that version was real. At times, recently, he doubted if he was real. The only saving grace was that the Temporal Reincarnator was sent here. If the Heavenly Daos had injured itself, then this…
He just held onto the hope that it was different.
After several hours of refinement, the Nexus War Flag had its 10,001 Spirit of War. Moreover, its intrinsic structure was only inferior to Zhan Zheng. However, it was dim and lifeless. It needed to be refined by his Soul Light and brought to life, granting it a new consciousness. This was the benefit of the Dao of War's profound law towards claiming the spoils of victory. It was tyrannical and unimaginably terrifying.
"Xu You's life talisman won't register his death for now," Wei Wuyin quietly said with certainty, reaching out to Xu You's last location and exerting his draconic void force to interact with the void; an object revealed itself. It was a token in the shape of a golden-colored solar star that had emerged from the void. Wei Wuyin's eyes glinted as he stared at this token.
This was the Endless Void Mirror's control talisman. It was refined using Xu You's blood Essence, linked deeply with his Mystic Soul. While Xu You had died, his Mystic Soul wasn't truly dead, so the returning mechanisms of the talisman were still inactive until it could conclusively determine that Xu You had passed.
This will eventually happen after he fully refines Xu You's remnants with his Soul Light, transforming him into a different entity entirely, but until then, it'll remain passive. This was perfect.
Suddenly, four strands of Soul Light exited his body from his eyes, bathing the talisman in its multicolored brilliance. The Seven Source Soul Light and Formless Divinity Soul Light took the lead. At the same time, the Shifting Elemental Soul Light acted as a natural supporter, and the Omega Saber Soul Light merely accompanied the others.
After ten full hours, Wei Wuyin retracted his Soul Lights, and the token was perfectly normal, as if nothing had changed. But from Wei Wuyin's pale complexion, it was clear he had exerted tremendous efforts.
"That'll buy us some time," Wei Wuyin's eyes shone faintly with a calculating light. Then, he tossed the token into the Stellar Transit Light. It vanished like a pebble into a source of water, clearly bypassing the formation with utter ease.
"Unfortunately, this space will collapse soon. Such a good location to ambush others," Wei Wuyin remarked wistfully as he swept his gaze across the rainbow walls. This was a segregated space manifested through the efforts of three Earthly Saints after obtaining a Spatial Art from him. It was extremely difficult to manifest and would collapse should no one maintain it.
That said, there was no point in having it. It was isolated from the world and within the Time Vortex, so there was no entry point, and not even Worldly Saints would be able to discover it now that the only entrance was sealed. He had carefully ensured that the entire space was air-tight to prevent spiritual communications.
A single Worldly Saint was fine, two were not. He didn't dare to even consider facing four or five. The chance of reinforcements was a terrifying prospect that could quickly devolve into a full-blown war.
"Let's go," Wei Wuyin said calmly. With the Legion of War as his guard, they exited the space and left the World Between the Fold.
-----
In a distant location, a manic cry infused with a hardened and ardent will resounded with such intensity that the World Between the Fold shook at its core!
"FOR TRUEBORN!"