Chapter 504 - 500: Already Dead
"Element!"
Those words weren’t spoken aloud, but a burst of explosive spiritual strength erupted, twisting the surrounding air and space as if it had! From Wei Wuyin’s dantian, King’s Astral Core was illuminated in Annihilation Saber Light, revealing its existence to the world! From within his World Sea, the Nascent Saber Soul released a resonating howl!
"Two Astral Cores?!" All observers were thunderstruck by this scene as they discovered the second Astral Core of a different nature nestled within Wei Wuyin’s dantian. It existed directly beside the still-glowing Elemental Origin Astral Core, releasing cascading waves of light.
Wei Wuyin ignored their shock, ignored their questioning gazes, with his silver eyes revealing only the utmost calm. With a clasp of his outstretched hand, a saber formed. It was constructed from the purest of his innate energies, its physical body representing a strength equivalent to his own flesh and bones.
Feeling the Nascent Saber Soul firmly within his grasp, emitting a saber howl that shook the space, he recalled his brother’s teachings:
"When you use a saber, you must ensure you always follow through. You should never unsheathe your saber unless you’re intending to take a life with it or protect a life with it!"
A stern voice, sturdy back, and clear smile formed within his mind. That figure that passed along his convictions and principles in the absence of his parents, watching over and protecting him, even at the cost of his own life. Everytime he wielded a saber, he would feel his presence, guiding his every stroke.
Since he brought out his saber, his intent to kill had solidified. Even if gods, demons, or ghosts sought to halt his edge, he would bring them all into ruin with it!
He Yanglei was deeply shaken. Two Astral Cores? Both at Thirty-two centimeters! How could such an absurd thing exist in this world? While there were those who had a unique bloodline that could generate multiple Spirits of Cultivation, leading to multiple Astral Cores, he had only ever heard of it.
There were methods that could form multiple Spirits of Cultivation, then merge them prior to reaching the Astral Core Realm. This was something even their starfield had, but the difficulty in cultivating such a method, the heightened lethality of the tribulations, and the need to use far, far more resources to advance, made it not a worthy investment.
But a method that allowed one to form multiple Spirits of Cultivation outside of that specific race? Was that even possible? What type of background must one have to even accomplish such a feat? To support it?
A tinge of unease emerged in He Yanglei’s heart, forcing him to reconsider Wei Wuyin’s origins and abilities. What if his Astral Cores weren’t a product of a self-harming method? Unfortunately, this thought was entertained for merely a moment before being dismissed. The concept of two thirty-two centimeters at the Light Reflection Phase went against cultivation plausibility within his mind.
ROAR!!!
Wei Wuyin moved his saber, hefting it through the air, and the nine Origin Dragons violently roared in unison. The voidships shook from the sheer force of their roars, causing those onboard to become ashen as they were bombarded by a wave of spiritual strength.
Woosh!
Without a single verbal command, nine dragons explosively shot towards He Yanglei’s voidship. While standing atop the Metal-Origin Dragon’s head, Wei Wuyin was carried forward. At the moment, with a saber in hand, he seemed like the Commander of Dragons!
The Voidship had no defensive or offensive formations outside of basic protective formations meant to isolate the Dark Chill of the Void and sustain living conditions. They shook from the mere movement of the thousand meter long dragons.
The crew yelled out in anger, rage and fear, wishing to defend themselves against this assault. A few Realmlords felt themselves mighty, jumping off the ship in defense of their Holy Son. Unfortunately, they were met with an unexpected World Pressure and were ruthlessly suppressed.
"They emit World Pressure!" A quick-witted male cultivator at the Realmlord level shouted.
"What?!" The crowd couldn’t even properly react before the Fire-Origin Dragon breathed a torrential outpour of fire-attributed breath his way, engulfing him and reducing the Realmlord into a smoldering cinder of seared flesh and burnt bones. He died before he could even scream out for help.
The nine Dragons of Origin wrecked untold havoc, surrounding the ship and entangling it with their long bodies. Those who met their breaths were all slaughtered, and for those unfortunate enough to meet them head on, they were crushed by forceful slams.
In seconds, the voidship was tied up by the dragons’ bodies, with their tails and claws digging into the ship’s surface. It creaked and groaned as if breaking apart. The Earth-Origin Dragon burrowed into the ship’s deck as if it was soft earth, swimming through the hull and killing all it came across.
He Yanglei was slow to react, not because he lacked strength, but the dragons were simply too fast. In mere seconds, they had snared the ship and started to break it into pieces. There were even fragments falling off and crashing into the ground below!
"How come they’re all so fast?!" He Yanglei was startled at the swift and explosive movements of each dragon. Their movement speed was several times faster than before. They all seemed to embody the essence of lightning, swift and explosive!
The Metal-Origin Dragon twisted its body, slowly bringing its head near He Yanglei. A Realmlord roared, shooting towards the individual at the top of said head, with fierce and suicidal intent. But as he flew with maddened resolve and steeled eyes, a saber howl resounded!
Thud!
The Realmlord’s body soared aggressively towards Wei Wuyin, but was met with a breath of silver flakes that eviscerated his body into an unrecognizable mess. Fortunately, his head was untouched as it had already been removed from his neck, rolling on the ship’s crumbling deck with widened eyes still reflecting that resolve to die for his cause.
He Yanglei was startled for a moment, but quickly regained his calm. With a faint smile, he looked at Wei Wuyin completely unbothered by the carnage occurring before him. Those loyal members of his temple were eaten, crushed, and blown apart, yet he remained entirely unfazed.
"Using an external array to fig-"
"Silence!" Wei Wuyin coldly shouted with impatience. He didn’t hesitate to blink away from the Metal-Origin Dragon’s head, utilizing Spatial Shift and covering the remaining distance between them. When he arrived before He Yanglei, he activated the tokens challenging rights. As he activated the challenge, He Yanglei’s token also lit.
A ray of divine light descended from the sky, engulfing the two before pushing everything else away. The ship had received incredible levels of damage during the shove, causing it to split into three large pieces and innumerable smaller ones. Those pieces clattered to the ground in quaking slams.
When the light faded, He Yanglei and Wei Wuyin were standing atop a platform of light and surrounded by a familiar cylindrical curtain. The two stood opposite of each other, causing the spectators to grow quiet. But when they saw He Yanglei’s calm smile, they were quite confused.
If they went by their assumptions, wasn’t Wei Wuyin still under the powerful effects of his amplification method? Why was He Yanglei so unbothered?
But how could they know about He Yanglei’s internal confidence in himself? His high cultivation base? And his absolute ace: his guardian! There was no danger to his life here, completely and totally devoid of tension!
Wei Wuyin calmly observed as He Yanglei sized him up with disdain. The latter was seemingly fearless. With a sneer, "You think you’ll fight me as easily as some nobody? A little boy at the Spatial Resonance Phase?" With a thought, He Yanglei no longer hid his cultivation!
With an explosion of air that caused his ponytail to flutter about endlessly, He Yanglei’s body emitted a strong gravitational force that distorted fixed space, ambient light, and the surrounding essence. His Astral Core revealed itself with a bright radiance!
Ten Centimeters!
To have such a foundation in the Gravity Emission Phase was testament of his extraordinary cultivation foundation and outstanding talent! While most were still under the impression that Wei Wuyin’s Astral Core was falsely achieved, they gawked and awed at He Yanglei’s terrifying foundation!
To frighteningly add, to become a Holy Child, a cultivator must be under three hundred years old! That meant he was a Gravity Emission Phase cultivator at a ridiculously young age with such impressive foundations! Where did he even come from?
He Yanglei awaited Wei Wuyin’s shocked reaction, but was met with silence and a calm expression. With an amused smile, He Yanglei asked: "Scared now?" To him, Wei Wuyin was definitely feigning confidence.
Wei Wuyin looked towards the ground, looked outside the curtain for a moment, and then at his saber.
’Just need a hundredth of a second. ’
BOOSH!
Not hesitating a single moment longer, Wei Wuyin’s figure shot towards He Yanglei at his greatest speed! He didn’t just blur, his speed had caused distortions to space and the surrounding flow of light, creating countless afterimages in his wake. The distance between them was already short to begin with, so Wei Wuyin arrived before He Yanglei almost instantly!
He Yanglei’s eyes constricted as he felt a sensation of deadly crisis, he urged his astral force inside him to act. With a cold light flickering within his eyes, he was about to launch a violent palm in retaliation!
BOOM!!!
BAAAAAAMMMMM!
The light curtain that shielded the platform collapsed in bits of tiny, scattered lights in the most thorough manner. Even the light platform had been eviscerated, exploding into bursts of light that blinded the audience.
Time seemed to slow for He Yanglei as he felt his vision distort. One moment, he saw Wei Wuyin move, and the next scene had totally changed at such a fast speed that his perception and senses hadn’t been able to register it!
But he felt it.
A cold, icy sensation at his neck.
When he looked down just a little bit, he found a saber just mere millimeters from touching his skin. It emitted an extremely terrifying saber light that caused his heart to fiercely jump. Holding this saber was an exceptionally handsome face with eyes that exuded an unfathomably calm, but heavy sweat dripped from his forehead.
At the edge of that saber were two aged fingers, holding tightly to it, keeping it from moving that last bit of distance into his throat. When his vision trailed those two fingers, he found that familiar skinny body directly beside him.
"You’re an impudent one," the skinny old man remarked. If he had displayed the slightest negligence, the consequences would’ve been disastrous. Wei Wuyin’s speed was terrifying!
Wei Wuyin merely looked at his saber, unafraid. It was as if he and his saber were the only two existences in this world.
He Yanglei felt a surge of terror inside his mind. His guardian had acted? Was he going to die? Confused and enraged, he asked Wei Wuyin in disbelief: "You tried to kill me?"
Wei Wuyin didn’t answer immediately, the sweat on his forehead increasing as the skinny old man’s finger pressed against Element, nearly shattering it! This was just the slightest power of those who surpassed the Mortal Limits!
But in the end, Wei Wuyin smiled with a relieved breath. "Tried?"
Those words caused the skinny old man to frown, his eyes dangerously narrowed. What did this youth mean by that?
"You’re already dead," Wei Wuyin glanced at He Yanglei, and then added as he eyed the skinny old man: "You were a little late."
The skinny old man’s eyes constricted, his head snapping to He Yanglei at an inconceivable speed!
He Yanglei felt his blood freeze from those words, turning to the skinny old man who stood just a few inches away from him, as the two eyes met, he found a trace of fear, pity, and regret.
He wanted to respond, to question, when he felt his vision darken without reason, his thoughts stagnate, and he could no longer feel his...anything...