Chapter 723: Soldier Of War, Jing Jiu
The blue light was indescribably swift. So fast that it moved as fast as light itself, so there was no way a mortal cultivator could ever react in time. The human archer had a smirk of victory as he was washed by the blue light, unharmed. His eyes observed Wei Wuyin's figure melt before the light, allowing him to feel relief in his heart.
The light only lasted for a few seconds before vanishing abruptly, revealing only the human archer in his kneeling state. After a quick breath, he hurriedly shouted out: "Return!" While he had outsourced to elites, he had, after all, hired elites to protect him.
Those that ran in horror earlier seemed to have expected this development, arriving back towards the human archer with faint smiles on their faces. One of the male soldiers brandished his sword, chuckling all the while. "Li Bing, you were quite fast in your retreat. I almost believed you actually fled like a coward, pissing yourself."
The female that ran first coldly snorted, wielding a spear with two bladed sides. She didn't deign to respond.
Seeing the cold expression and attitude of Li Bing, the male human soldier chortled.
"Sir, shall we move?" Another soldier asked, inspecting the surroundings. While the Spiritualist had cleared out most enemies with his presence, there was bound to be more enemy soldiers flooding their way soon. At least, he thought so.
"Move? Why would we move? No squad would dare challenge us, especially after he slayed a Spiritualist." The sword-wielding soldier scoffed. To him, this was the safest place for them to rest in this chaotic battlefield, a rare moment to gain rest.
The soldier that had asked the question ignored the sword-wielding soldier, turning to await their Squad Leader's response.
Jing Jiu, formerly referred to as the human archer, coughed a little as he looked around. The other soldiers of either race were giving them a wide berth. He shook his head after witnessing their reactions and considering his current state, "Gu Yuan is correct. We'll rest for a few minutes here, then we'll regroup with the others." After saying this, he brought out a jade bottle from his armor. It contained three pills that were beyond the mortal-rank. He rolled one of the pills out and was about to consume it.
The female soldier glanced and felt envy. In fact, they all did. Who had enough wealth to afford Mystic-Earth grade energy recovery products? Only such products would be useful to Starlords like them in such a rapid environment like the Battlefield.
"You have so many mystic-graded items, pills, bow, arrows, and talismans—quite wealthy, aren't we?" A voice abruptly resounded within the group's defensive formation. The expressions of every last one of them changed, turning to see a grey-scaled, winged figure standing directly before Jing Jiu, entirely unharmed!
Their eyes widened and their minds exploded with horror as a surging spiritual strength erupted that envelope them all, stifling their breaths and seizing their spirits. Such tremendous spiritual strength!
'The Spiritualist is alive!' Their thoughts were unified, and if they could be read, it would almost form a seamless harmony. They were absolutely staggered by this development!
The sword-wielding soldier paled until he became as white as snow, struggling to escape the spiritual bindings of Wei Wuyin's spell. Unable to move, unable to react, they felt as if their entire souls were fixed into a single point in time. Frozen completely, they could only hear the faint sounds of Wei Wuyin's movements.
Jing Jiu's eyes were the widest, unwilling to believe that Wei Wuyin survived both of his assaults. While the first could be attributed to luck at sensing the spatial fluctuations, Jing Jiu felt that it was impossible for Wei Wuyin to realize the second!
However, he was still able to keep an internal calm as he tried to interface with his last life saving tool. While it would take out his soldiers, he would be able to survive this! In his current state of lacking almost all of his energy, he wasn't willing to risk his own life for them! So Jing Jiu hurriedly tried to activate his armor's most powerful ability, but he found that everything was fixed in place!
He couldn't move a single inch. He couldn't activate his mental energies, astral force, or physical energies! Those wide eyes could only become bloodshot as he felt the sensation of intense deadly crisis overwhelm him. A crisis that he might not survive!
Unwillingness surged in his heart, fueling his cultivation base with some source of strange strength. This strength stimulated by his current situation started to rise, slowly loosening the effects of Wei Wuyin's restrictive spell. If given enough time, he might be able to escape! The light of hope dawned in his heart, as brilliant as the brightest solar star, and he clung to it fiercely.
Shiing!
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
A saber howl resounded as Wei Wuyin used his claws instead of saber, unleashing lines of saber light that met the glabellas of each human soldier before around him, leaving only Jing Jiu unharmed. Five bodies collapsed, dead.
The struggling will within Jing Jiu grew stronger and stronger, fighting against the spiritual spell. It was at the cusp of allowing Jing Jiu to regain his freedom.
"Oh?" Wei Wuyin's voice of interested surprise resounded. He reinforced the Fixed Soul Spell's power, releasing the limits on Eden's spiritual strength, almost doubling its might. The strange force within Jing Jiu stalled for a moment, causing his bloodshot eyes to become even redder, almost about to burst a blood vessel in both eyes. The ferocity of his fierce struggle was readily apparent in his expression.
From up above, an Ascended being's aura descended. It was flustered and urgent, trying to interfere!
Wei Wuyin didn't hesitate any longer, feeling the outrageous surges of pain brought about by unleashing three Astral Souls' worth of Spiritual Strength. Even with his True Draconic Form, he had already exceeded a certain limit, only remaining perfectly intact due to his refined body.
Jing Jiu felt his head be grasped by Wei Wuyin's draconic hand, slowly being poured copious amounts of foreign power into his Sea of Consciousness. He roared in his heart, feeling as if his entire mind was being sieged and invaded. He grew increasingly fearful. This Spiritualist could read his thoughts?! The thoughts of a Starlord?!
However, he soon realized it was much, much worse as his entire Sea of Consciousness was being perversely inspected, all his secrets, all his emotions, all of his experiences, and every last thought he'd ever had! They were all being swept through by this strange mental power with absolute precision.
To have something invade your mind, it was a horrifying, harrowing experience, and he couldn't even resist it at all. He tried, oh boy did he try, but his mind seemed to have been severed from his spirit and body, even that strange will within him went totally silent. Unable to communicate with it, he was left alone for the first time in his entire life with nothing to rely on.
His originally handsome countenance was no longer like how it once was, his eyes had popped several blood vessels and became entirely crimson, while tears of blood streamed down his cheeks.
'Is this how it felt to die?'
His thoughts were unfathomably clear at this moment as he felt a weakness envelop him. When that feeling of death overtook him, he felt an urge to beg the heavens, earths, divinities, gods, ghosts, and even devils for salvation. An act he swore he'd never do before, acquiescing to another being. Yet…it was what he wanted the most.
Before death, all his pride and confidence was like ash in his mouth.
He still hadn't told her his truest feelings.
He still hadn't killed that person he swore.
He still hadn't solved that mystery.
So many unresolved regrets remained.
He never thought that he would die here…not here…
Psuush!
The soul-shivering sound of skull, brain, and blood being crushed into pulp resounded, leaving behind a half-headed corpse that went totally limp, falling to the ground in a lifeless manner. Even the thud felt muted, as if it fell on a bed of its lingering regrets.
Wei Wuyin's expression was incredibly dark as he shook the bits of blood and flesh off his scales, looking not at the corpse of Jing Jiu, or the Ascended aura that was currently going berserk, but at the murky sky with his closed eyes.
OOOOM!
"So he was a Blessed after all…" Was all he could think about before the world darkened and all things beneath the heavens once again froze.