"N-no! Ple-PLEASE!! Don't kill m—" A sword hymn echoed out as a head flew into the air, eviscerated by sword light. All signs of life were eradicated as a corpse fell, headless and geysering with a torrential outpour of hot blood.
At the boundary where a thin layer of Heavenly Force guarded against those at the Resonant Soul Realm, where only those beneath it could enter without triggering an instinctual reaction from the core within the inner region of the fiery zone, there were signs of a massacre's final moments.
Among the cultivators sent by Sovereign Littlefinger, many of whom were the enemies of Su Yi, who sought his death at all costs, who took it upon themselves to, with the backing of a Heavenly Saint Alchemist and a coordinated series of manifestation-type arrays to gather their strength as a single unit against their foe, none remained.
None.
Every enemy with a death grudge at the Mystic Overlord or a Sage level arrived with maliciously murderous intentions, their initial assault was unprecedentedly fierce, yet against a Su Yi that had unexpectedly recovered a significant amount, much to their and Sovereign Littlefinger's surprise, they were as fragile as cabbages and their lives were reaped like wheat by his sword.
It was an utterly bloody sight. Desperation and despairing cries rained within the boundary as fear and terror overtook them, they had fought fiercely, but as more and more died, they grew cowardly and afraid, seeking life that was once so bountiful and wonderful to enjoy. They had status. They had long lives. They had potential. They had talent. They had lovers. They had respect, authority, and strength.
All of it was being erased by the enemy they sought to eliminate. Unfortunately, the boundary was a semi-permeable layer; those who entered could not simply leave as they wished. The thin layer of Heavenly Force reacted aggressively to Resonant Soul Realm cultivators, and oddly reacted violently to those seeking to leave.
In truth, it wasn't their fault. The illusion of easy entry gave rise to a belief in an easy exit. However, that was the furthest from the truth. As a semi-permeable layer, and as a Heavenly World, the core required a steady supply of external sustenance of energy and essence to sustain itself, and as such, all forms of energy, essence, or aura at the Mystic-World grade or lower could freely enter. Those at or above Mystic-Heaven were rather volatile, hard to digest, and purify given its mere level as a Microheaven-tier Heavenly World.
They were simply unaware that after absorbing the ambient energies and essence of the Heavenly World's remnants, they were considered as innate parts of the ruptured world, and that it had sealed itself entirely after detonation as a means of instinctual self-preservation to rebuild and recover. Leaving was a simple matter of expelling every trace amount of energy and essence from the fiery zone, but during combat, their entire bodies were saturated by the subconscious circulation of their cultivation base and methods.
There was no escape.
UNLESS! They had to take the time to find and expel each and every iota of energy and essence originating from this world, purifying themselves with extreme prejudice. However, for those who refined the energies and essences to replenish their mystic-grade innate energies or Mystic Power, they were shit out of luck.
They were trapped here with Su Yi. A horrifyingly nightmarish situation to be in. Many of them begged for help from Sovereign Littlefinger. Others used Resonant Qi Talismans and were instantly killed by the Heavenly World, causing Sovereign Littlefinger to flinch with horror in his gaze. Some cried to the heavens for a chance to survive. A few even pleaded with their would-be murderer, Su Yi, for mercy.
They, who came with the tyrannical intent to end his life, tried to beg for mercy. How hypocritical and pathetic. Unfortunately, none of it helped them, whether they were wealthy men or immortal fairy-like women, as they began their premature descent to Hell. Su Yi's sword was rated E for Everyone.
The air, energy, essence, all of space, the flow of time, and the waves of mana churned violently at the boundary. The Heavenly Daos subtly circulated about Su Yi as his karmic luck rapidly replenished, blessed again and again. Each of these Mystic Overlords and True Sages was placed within his path by the Heavenly Daos, they were sinners of varying degrees, either due to accumulating sin via breaking its commandments or killing Blessed. The latter was significantly more likely than the former.
Cultivation was difficult, and even those blessed by the Heavenly Daos faced challenges that could end their lives. They came in all forms, but the most common amongst cultivation societies were tribulations of man. They were embodiments of greed, pride, wrath, lust, gluttony, envy, and sloth.
Some watched as Blessed suffered, refusing to assist despite the influence, seeking to do nothing but watch idly, leaving the Blessed by their lonesome to die.
Some felt desire for their talent, their fortune, or their beauty, crushing it early before they could threaten them or plundering it for themselves.
Some simply wanted more and more, and Blessed was caught in their boundless hunger for more, leaving them broken, lost, and outright dead.
Some desired their bodies or position, ambitiously seeking indulgence from them in a myriad of ways.
Some had their siblings, disciples, companions, or disciples harmed, insulted, or killed, and they got their enraged vengeance, even if they were in the wrong, violating commandments and becoming Sinners that the Heavenly Daos had sent in the path of Blessed.
Some refused to accept any slight or what they perceived as one, with their status high or their personhood lofty, they believed themselves above the Blessed, crushing Blessed out of pure ego.
Some owned great treasures given to them by the machinations of the Heavenly Daos or their effort, and that was enough to inspire them to end lives and crush entire generations.
The Utmost Purity Galaxy was not a galaxy of peace and love. The Knightly Dao Pavilion's Calamity brought about by a game that would have and did result in the deaths of prominent talents and powerful cultivators, with many of the Knightly Dao Pavilion's disciples suffering severe injuries that would affect them for life, was a sign of this irrefutable fact of galactic brutality.
Alchemists reigned supreme. They were superbly wealthy and had the authority to execute others and pay a fine. They were protected by the upper echelons, given preferential treatment as a matter of course. It was a galactically accepted cultural standard that Alchemists, especially Alchemic Soul cultivators, were undoubtedly highborn. After all, not everyone had the prerequisite level of alchemic talent to cultivate an Alchemic Spirit of Cultivation.
Back in the Eden Earth Sect in the Myriad Yore Continent, Wei Wuyin had skyrocketed from a nobody to the Vice-Sect Master's disciple due to his unprecedented alchemic talent. This was a sign of the rarity, and even in the Myriad Monarch Sect, even Tuo Bihan, the sect's greatest alchemist, wasn't an Alchemic Soul cultivator.
The Heavenly Daos were preferential and rather sinister, and each of those cultivators was subtly influenced to fight here. To resist here. To die here.
All for a single existence—Su Yi! Was that fair? Perhaps not. Was that unfair? Those who were in Hell would very well think so.
Wei Wuyin watched this unfold as he surgically refined the Soul Pill into Sovereign She-Devil Sword, expertly doing so with little issue as he didn't perform the surgery personally. His Second Mind was controlling the process via manipulating his body in coordination with Eden, studying the refined physique of a Microheaven Envoy, and deriving significant understandings by doing so.
Wei Wuyin wasn't some bleeding heart or pure Saint, and just because this red-haired Supreme Sage had won him some mystic-heaven stones, even though she was a gorgeous swordswoman and pirate, he wouldn't waste a Soul Pill on her. She wasn't important enough in his eyes.
However, the opportunity to study a Resonant Soul Realm expert at the Microheaven Phase at their most vulnerable was something that his Second Mind was unwilling to miss. Despite his initial reservations, his Second Mind was insistent to an immovable degree, disregarding all of Wei Wuyin's reservations about doing this.
Why exactly was he hesitant?
He didn't believe he had a 100% chance of success! In fact, he had gauged the situation, and using a Soul Pill would only secure perhaps a 5% to 10% chance, and half of that percentage value was if she helped. He didn't know much about the Microheaven Envoy Phase or the Resonant Soul Realm enough to perform surgery after ignition.
And indeed—the body of this she-devil began to seize. Her Resonant Soul was in a steady decline, attempting to disperse.
'Her Resonant Soul...why can't I sense her soul?' Wei Wuyin and his Second Mind were baffled. They couldn't sense her soul, only her depleted and crumbling Resonant Soul. However, she was alive.
'OH! HER SOUL IS INSIDE HER RESONANT SOUL!' The Second Mind exclaimed as if experiencing an explosive enlightenment, and this discovery shook Wei Wuyin to the core. This wasn't a theory. This was a truth of the Resonant Soul Realm.
'But if her Resonant Soul is her soul, then...her awakened True Soul or...wait...' Wei Wuyin grew confused as he began to think about the Mystic Ascension Realm. The soul was a mysterious container that held together the quintessential physical, mental, and essence foundation, akin to DNA composition, and the other innate talents of a cultivator, allowing them to grow into themselves. This was why innate talent couldn't be easily taken or acquired, yet the metaphysical properties of a Spirit under specific techniques, methods, arts, and spells can emulate those properties.
An example was Wei Wuyin's True Void Dragon Bloodline. It had changed his physical, but the suave variant of himself he had met during his tribulation back then had lost Kratos, and thus, they could no longer create that type of innate talent. He had lost access to the future paths of the Void Dao.
If Wei Wuyin lost all four of his Astral Souls, he would only be left with his Anima-Devourer Bloodline from his mother and Magi Bloodline from the random selection of soul birth. The latter was why Magi were few and far between, and why the King of Everlore and Wei Wuyin had no direct relation. At least...that's what Wei Wuyin thought.
Within the soul was the 'core' known as a True Soul, and those at the True Soul Phase, the peak of the Mystic Ascendant Realm—Enlightened Sages, had awakened this, allowing them to gain control of this and their soul energy. Because of this, they can freely wield the true power of the Authorities of Heavenly Laws.
Widely known throughout the world of cultivation, the final phase of the Mystic Ascendant Realm was not required to ascend into the Resonant Soul Realm. In actuality, it made it significantly harder to ascend.
Wei Wuyin finally caught a glimpse of why that was. The Resonant Soul Realm required the integration of the Spirit of Cultivation and a cultivator's soul. The True Soul, awakened or not, would be accepted in its entirety regardless. With the Spirit of Cultivation as the foundation, the soul energy was added as the fifth type of base energy, alongside the bloodline of a physique, the heavenly essence gained at the Heavenly Saint Phase, and Mystic World Intent required for the Ascended Saint Phase, including Physical, Mental, Essence, and Spiritual—would create Resonant Qi of the Heavens!
Wei Wuyin was instantly inspired as the Second Mind conveyed its discovery. This might seem minor, yet it had shockingly given him some answers to many of his questions. For example, he finally understood why the Resonant Soul Realm was so terrifyingly powerful.
The cultivator BECAME the Spirit of Cultivation!
"..." Wei Wuyin's brows furrowed.
"..." The Second Mind went quiet after its initial excitement, uncharacteristically becoming somber and intense.
"..." Kratos.
"..." King.
"..." Ori.
"Tch. We'll figure it out," King declared.
The edge of Wei Wuyin's lips curved into a smile. That's right. They'll figure it out.
Then, his Second Mind shouted: "IT'S NOT ENOUGH!"
Wei Wuyin focused on this she-devil of a swordswoman, now understanding that her ignition was no different than burning her existential framework, Sea of Consciousness, Dantian, Meridians, Psyche, alongside her entire Resonant Soul. She burned everything that was her, from physical, mental, essence, spiritual, and soul.
Utterly ruthless. No wonder she could muster such terrifying power within a single moment, unprecedentedly lethal as it ended the resilient life of a Supreme Sage at the cost of her own.
"What could drive you to sacrifice so much?" While Wei Wuyin originally didn't have much interest in this woman's life or death, he was genuinely curious why a woman who lived and bitterly struggled to cultivate for nearly two hundred thousand years, who was frighteningly young for a Supreme Sage, would throw her very existence away.
Was someone capable of saving her? Or... Wei Wuyin couldn't determine if she was a cultivated Heavenly Dao pawn. If so...
Were even Resonant Soul Realm cultivators bound to this? Those who've entered the Realm of Sages, were they unable to escape the Heavenly Daos' influence in the end?
Deciding to set aside his thoughts from the urgent calls of his Second Mind, Wei Wuyin brought out the high-perfection Abstruse Spiritforce Pill. He softly whispered: "You owe me."
The Second Mind's vigor regained itself as it went to work, adding the Abstruse Spiritforce Pill alongside the Soul Pill in a reckless attempt to stabilize her crumbling existence. Hopefully, replenishing or strengthening her Resonant Soul can stave off the imminent collapse.
THRUMM! THRUMM! THRUMM! THRUMM! THRUMM! THRUM! THRUMM!!!
Seven deep, resounding sounds thrummed across the Dark Void. Wei Wuyin's focus shifted as he felt as if the galaxy was trembling. A solemn presence descended across the entire galaxy. He felt harsh. Kratos felt a pang of pain. Eden's roots twisted and trembled as if violently electrocuted. And his Alchemic Stars of Unparalleled Creation shone, instinctively activating as seven-colored liquid-like tears fell from his eyes, streaking his face.
The Alchemic Dao paid its respects. Wei Wuyin's eyes widened, focusing on Su Yi's figure. "He didn't..."
Su Yi, the white-robed swordsman, with a silent, seething rage within his cold eyes, strongly held the decapitated head of Sovereign Littlefather in one hand. The other hand delicately held an unconscious and bloodied Primal Star Sovereign. Her beautiful figure was marred by mangled flesh, incessant fissures across her face, hands, and feet, and drenched in blood. Her aura was at an all-time low, barely...barely alive.

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