"Heavenly King? How is that possible?!" A disciple exclaimed from behind the spherical barrier. His eyes were fixated on Wei Wuyin's figure. The golden light from earlier could only originate from a Heavenly King's token, and only they can force a challenge against a lower rank disciple on a neutral or their own mountain.
"Are you dumb, stupid, or dumb? Can't you see that he must've officiated his status as an Alchemic King!" A more knowledgeable disciple exclaimed, causing waves of gasps and shaking eyes suffused with disbelief.
If Wei Wuyin was truly officiated, then his ability was confirmed. How terrifying was an Alchemic King from the backyard continental flat earths who was younger than forty?! He was likely the youngest Alchemic King in the last five thousand years. He might even be younger than the King of Everlore!
While this couldn't be confirmed, this simple thought caused a multitude of hearts to chaotically tremble. Especially those who knew he was born on the same continent. Was this the second King of Everlore?!
And, he didn't have an Alchemic Natal Soul?! How exceptional was his natural talent towards the Dao of Alchemy? How fearsome! How peerless!
Gu Hao's expression was no longer arrogant, but twisted and ugly. A Heavenly King? An Alchemic King before forty? His heart was similarly beating without end, and this person seemed intent on taking his life! While he had regret, there was no pill he could take.
Perhaps Wei Wuyin could concoct one, but he surely wouldn't give it to him!
"I…" Gu Hao actually didn't dare to make a move, rendered speechless and confused.
Wei Wuyin didn't bother. "Your faction is called the Grand Axis Faction? Good. Since they want to use tyrannical tactics against prestigious alchemists, showing no respect for them, then they're a scourge in this sect. After your death, I'll be sure to ensure their destruction."
His words were calm, but cold hisses resounded behind the barrier. If it was anyone else who dared to say this, perhaps they would wildly laugh and jeer, but it was a Heavenly King and an Alchemic King under forty. If he said this, then there will be countless ways to complete it.
When they thought of this, they realized why Wei Wuyin fearlessly descended from the Sky Layer: He was a Heavenly King!
Only Heavenly Kings can avoid all Imperial Combat challenges, and even other Heavenly Kings can't challenge others. These figures were the peak of the sect, and while the sect mostly allowed them to do as they pleased in some matters, bringing each other down or ensuring mutual destruction wasn't allowed. They could fight with their factions, but never each other.
Of course, this right also extends to their subordinates so that Heavenly Kings can't threaten other Heavenly Kings with their loved ones.
While their belief was wrong, they still came to this conclusion. As for Gu Hao, his eyes frowned and then a hint of wild madness entered his gaze.
"You're just a Qi Condensation Realm expert while I'm at the Second Stage of the Astral Core Realm! Our differences are as great as heaven and earth, and I can stomp you to death with a single breath!" Gu Hao wasn't an idiot; idiots would never be able to arrive at his cultivation. He knew their differences, and if he acted, then his victory was assured.
Wei Wuyin looked at Gu Hao and sighed. The Dao of Alchemy was a complete Dao; it was not incapable of combat. He retrieved three black pellets from his ring and calmly clenched his fist.
Boosh!
A vast amount of black gaseous fumes and clouds started to diffuse rapidly, seeking to consume the entire inside of the spherical barrier with this cloud of black gas.
Gu Hao's eyes narrowed as he acted swiftly. He tried to use the ambient mana of the world to restrict the gas, but it continued to spread. He retreated, believing the black gas was poison of some sort, stepping on air, he retreated and executed a brown-colored astral ward that radiated an earthen aura.
He touched the edge of the spherical barrier, and a hint of fear entered his eyes. The fear of the unknown was always terrifying.
But the gas didn't seem to affect him, only spreading to the entire barrier and then started to rapidly dissipate. In a few seconds, everything returned to normal.
Wei Wuyin slowly walked on the ground. After all, he couldn't step onto the air or use the world's mana to fly. Well, neither could Gu Hao anymore.
"Ahhhhh!" A scream echoed and a large, hulking figure fell several hundred feet in the sky and smashed heavily towards the ground. He seemed to be constantly trying to grasp the air, step on the air, but to no avail.
Boom!!
Wei Wuyin retrieved five glass-like pellets filled with glittering multicolored light. He threw it towards the ground and it smashed against the ground, and a flash of light exploded and brightly lit the entire barrier.
The crowd was utterly shocked, and nearly blinded. When they regained their sights after a few seconds, they saw Gu Hao climbing out of his man-made crater with bloodshot and enraged eyes.
"What did you do?! WHY CAN'T I CONTROL THE WORLD'S MANA?!?!" He was hysterical; completely terrified at what he had just experienced. For some reason, he couldn't manipulate the world's mana as a Sky Ruler, causing him to fall powerlessly to the ground. This was a feeling he hadn't felt for two hundred years.
Wei Wuyin shook his head, rolling up his sleeves. "You haven't noticed?" His eyes looked towards Gu Hao with a tinge of pity and questioning of his intelligence.
Gu Hao felt his heart race as he started to instinctively try to establish an astral ward against any uncertainties. Even though Wei Wuyin was unfathomable, he still couldn't defeat him, a Second Stage of the Astral Core Realm as a Qi Condensation Realm expert! He had Astral Force! Without the ability to control the world's mana, he could still obliterate him with astral arts.
"…" Gu Hao stilled. His expression was unnatural as his eyes bulged, looking at his hands and torso. With a sense of urgency, he touched his naval and tried to feel his dantian and Astral Soul, the evolved form of a Natal Soul.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!?!" Gu Hao screamed with utter horror, fear warping his expression as he felt a sudden and abrupt sensation of powerlessness.
Wei Wuyin continued his brisk stroll towards Gu Hao. "You know what happens if your spiritual energies are sealed? Well, I guess you do know."
"What?! His Spiritual Energies are sealed?!" The crowd went wild. This was a drastic development and the worst nightmare for any cultivator. Spiritual energies originated from the spirit, which had long since merged from the Heart of Qi, and become a Natal Soul. This Natal Soul would become an Astral Soul, but the spirit was still unfathomably crucial as it was the brain center.
Typically, a cultivator controlled their spirit with its spiritual energies linking with their sea of consciousness. This was how spiritual sense was born, a sixth sense borne from the unification of spirit and mind. But if spiritual energies flow was sealed, then so was the link between mind and spirit.
They no longer had a pathway to their spirit, no longer could control their Qi or Astral Force. Furthermore, they can't even use spiritual spells.
They were essentially rendered mortal.
Wei Wuyin experienced this when his spirits went dormant when he lost his memories. He had no connection with his spirits until they awakened and reconnected with his mind.
"Now it's just me and you, man on man. You seem to have a fine body, let's see how strong it really is." Wei Wuyin calmly said, finishing rolling up his sleeves properly to reveal a set of well-defined muscles.
"You like to bully beasts? Well, let's see if you can handle a beating." He moved his fingers a little, cracking his knuckles and stretching his arms.
Only then did the crowd come to the realization that Wei Wuyin hadn't just sealed Gu Hao's spiritual energies, but likely his own. Those pellets had taken his ability to manipulate the world's mana and then sealed their spiritual energies?! How terrifying were Alchemists?!
But…
Gu Hao's mind similarly came to that conclusion, but his eyes were still suffused with a hint of confidence. Even if it was false, he clung onto it vigorously to beat back the impending, soul-crushing fear of death. "You sealed both our spiritual energies? Foolish! My body has been refined by astral force, enhanced elemental energies for four hundred years, yet you're not even forty! You think you can match me in a fist fight?!" He clenched his fist and was ready for a brawl; he would bash this fellow to death!
"Uh huh." Was Wei Wuyin's only response. Then, he kicked off.
Woosh!
His figure was insanely fast, covering the remaining distance between Gu Hao and him in a short moment. His eyes were calm as he pulled back his clenched fist and lanced it forward at Gu Hao's head.
Gu Hao's eyes widened. Without his spiritual senses, he viewed the world normally, and his mortal senses weren't refined. He only saw Wei Wuyin vanish and a big fist soaring his way. He couldn't even exclaim before it smashed against his nose.
Woosh!
Bam!
He flew like a thrown chicken, flailing by instinct trying to fly until he smashed against the barrier. His body was definitely refined to an extraordinary point as his body hadn't gone splat. He slid across the barrier, seemingly unconscious.
"Oh? Did I hold back a little too much?" Checking his fist, he expected Gu Hao's head to at least distort until disfigured. The fact he hadn't meant his head was very hard. "Well, at least you didn't die immediately." With those words said, a cold chill ran down everyone's spine.
Wei Wuyin kicked off again, his right leg pushing forward in a stomp that roared towards Gu Hao's right leg.
Crack!
"AHHHHH!" A resounding bone-snapping sound erupted from Gu Hao's right leg. But it didn't end, Wei Wuyin proceeded to stomp again and again and again, aiming for the three remaining unbroken limbs. He was ruthless, striking at the most concentrated parts of muscle and bones.
Horrific, nightmare inducing shrieks echoed out ceaselessly. The groans of the pained and frustrated shook the world. Wei Wuyin wasn't merciful and took his time, after knowing his limits of strength and what Gu Hao could withstand, he truly held nothing back.
So the crowd was left to watch a show.
A show of one man torturing a helpless expert that flailed. When he tried to verbally beg, a foot stomped towards his jaw and crushed his teeth and tongue. Even his screams became drowned by the breaking sounds of his body and bones.
"…"
"…"
"…"
Ten minutes passed. That pain-filled scream had long become a begging whimper which turned into a crying whisper which turned into silence—deathly silence.
The spherical barrier dissipated, concluding the outcome.
Wei Wuyin stood there, his hand and feet drenched in blood. His figure was absolutely terrifying, and many couldn't help but feel true and unfathomable horror in their hearts. Especially how calm he looked throughout, nary a smile nor a frown in sight.
"This can be considered as revenge for injuring my mount without considering me. Now," Wei Wuyin calmly declared as he looked towards the crowd.
That was just for injuring your mount?! Such a horrific death?
Wei Wuyin pulled out his golden token and it became brightly lit, shooting a tower of golden light into the clouds.
"I, Heavenly King of Extreme Creation Mountain, hereby issue an order of extermination on all official members of the Grand Axis Faction with these conditions.
"If anyone can cripple a Mortal Common disciple of the Grand Axis Faction, you'll obtain a free peak-tier, sixth-grade alchemical product. Earthly Elite disciples will be worth a low-tier, seventh-grade alchemical product of their choice. If anyone can kill or cripple Sky Noble Ji Muzhao of the Extreme War Mountain, they'll be able to obtain three low-tier, seventh-grade and one high-tier, seventh-grade alchemical product of their choice! Also, if they can bring me his head personally, then I'll owe them a favor!"
"…"
"…"
"…WHAT?!?!"
