Han Yunxi had already become drunk in his soon-to-be victory. His opponent couldn't penetrate through his metal-type astral ward, even his trap had been laid and activated. A sensation of triumph seized his heart, but that heart was shaken by surprise. This opponent of his hadn't paled from fear or struggled pathetically while in despair, but stared directly into his eyes and asked a soul penetrating question.
"Is this what you used to kill my father?"
Father?
What father? Who?
He momentarily paused as he observed this hybrid of a demon. She was roughly eight feet tall, with an ample figure, and valiant beauty about her. He hadn't immediately recalled any individual with looks similar to her. As a cultivator, as a cultivator that roamed freely within the world, he had met and killed plenty of people.
That being said, there were still too few Astral Core Realm cultivators to forget any that he sent off into the afterlife. Considering this girl could become an elite in the Astral Core Realm, furthermore possess such a talent and strength, her parents must be relatively well-connected or exceptionally strong.
He slowly twirled his fingers about as the hundred thousand needles danced around them like a silver sea.
Da Shan saw the distinct look of surprise and confusion on his face, and her heart started to become aflame with raging anger. Her golden eyes narrowed and the ferocity within became stronger than ever. Her aura startled to fiercely seethe, causing a tempest of violet-colored astral force to erupt. The sea of needles was slowly pushed backwards, but merely by a little.
Han Yunxi frowned slightly, but then he relaxed. "Maybe? But what does it matter? Just die." He quickly came to the realization that it didn't matter if this young woman was here for him or for the competition. In fact, it didn't matter if he truly killed her father or mother or entire family. It truly didn't. He had already decided in his heart to kill her.
Da Shan didn't erupt in fury at his indifferent and disrespectful response. Instead, she calmed down to an inconceivable degree. Not speaking another word, she started to focus her strength.
The crowd outside were enthralled in this high-speed and explosive battle. Da Shan had revealed an extremely powerful physical body, striking with high speed and forceful power, while Han Yunxi responded calmly while defending with an exceptionally difficult-to-penetrate shell. Now they were encapsulated in a sea of silver, the contents of which were metal force conjured needles. They could no longer see the exact happenings of the battle, but they all knew a winner would be decided shortly.
Su Mei watched the sea of needles move about as if alive, circulating the two, and seemingly ready to attack in a mysterious and unpredictable fashion. "This art requires an enormous amount of astral force to unleash and even more to maintain," she commented with a little bit of disappointment.
Wei Wuyin calmly smiled, "Complete knowledge of your opponent leads to complete victory."
Su Mei nodded, "It's over."
Just as she said this, violet light rays erupted between the spaces of the needles. A thunderous explosion that could only be felt by the spiritual sense erupted within. If it wasn't for the crystal wall shielding everyone, many would've been easily shaken by this. The sea of needles paused for a moment before they seemed to move about in a swift and hurried manner.
The sea of needles transformed into dozens of rivers and surged inwards, collapsing the well established sphere, and revealing the insides to everyone. A young woman was calmly standing about in valiant battle armor, her golden eyes releasing an extremely bright radiance while behind her was a seven hundred meter violet mountain.
Furthermore, her nearly eight feet tall figure had explosive growth, standing at nearly eighty feet. She had grown a full ten times! But her gloves, greaves, and clothes all expanded with her. Her body was covered in gorgeous runic markings, giving her a mysterious beauty.
"Seven Rings?!" Someone cried as they spotted a violet mountain that stood immovable behind the giant woman's figure. It was a construct of the Astral Soul, an Idol of Projection, and it revealed its innate potential and hidden depths of power. It was the defining trump card and cultivation trait that every Soul Idol Phase cultivator possessed—their Soul Idol!
It was grand, majestic, and felt as if it could suppress all souls with its immense weight and extraordinary size. When truly unleashed, truly manifested, a cultivator's strength multiplied several-fold. Each ring signified its hidden depths of spiritual strength, aura, and potential. When one's spiritual strength is increased, one's spiritual essence is increased. When one's spiritual essence is increased, one's Astral and Spiritual Force is increased.
The sea of needles that were impacted by the violet rays of light started to rapidly collapse into specks of silver before vanishing. What was soon fully revealed as the nearly eighty-feet woman clutching the struggling and bloody Han Yunxi within one hand. The crunching of bones could be heard.
"…!" Han Yunxi wheezed as his lungs felt crushed, his body's bones already splintering into his flesh. The pain was unbearable, but his true pain came from within. Endless violet rays of spiritual light entered his sea of consciousness, attempting to penetrate his entirety and seize his everything. Alas, his spiritual strength was severely lacking.
He merely had a three-ringed Soul Idol, a reflection of his spiritual strength. In terms of comparing it with the elite geniuses of the starfield, he was relatively on the low side. The greatest geniuses of this era had been at the seven-ringed state, but that was merely limited to Purists who focused on their foundation, foregoing all other distractions.
When Da Shan released her seven-ringed Soul Idol, he had lost his senses by the immense spiritual pressure that was applied to him. He could barely react before being suppressed, and then Da Shan had explosively grown and grabbed at him. His previously impregnable astral ward had been crushed with a single hand's squeeze.
The moment he regained his senses, he immediately realized who she was. Even the flooding memories of this so-called father of hers had come to his mind. She was of the titan lineage. A very rare bloodline of humanoid beings that could enlarge their bodies by uniquely enhancing their physical energies. They were extremely renowned, but not for their strength, as it was mostly average, but the ability to refine them into a type of Blood Pill.
Blood Pills were an alchemical generalization for pills concocted using the innate essence and energies of an individual, be it cultivator or mortal. These Blood Pills were useful and used by Evil Cultivators to promote their strength. The Ji Clan in the Myriad Monarch Sect that had been eliminated at Wei Wuyin's words were caught using infants to refine these sorts of sordid and vicious pills.
While the world didn't reject Evil Methods and means such as this, if they were too extreme, they would be universally condemned. This was mostly because of the truth behind three little words: Cultivation is difficult.
The titan bloodline was very useful in strengthening the foundation of one's physical energies, amplifying one's power by a large margin. Therefore, Evil Cultivators would seek them out and slaughter them; then, they would refine their blood essence into Blood Pills and cultivate with them.
He remembered coming across a cluster of humans with titan bloodlines a century or so ago on a continent. They were all beneath the Astral Core Realm, so it was as if a pie had fallen onto his lap. Moreover, his master had told him that using Evil Methods to increase his strength was appropriate as long as he thoroughly cleaned up his mess. He didn't hesitate to slaughter the entire group, taking their corpses with excitement and happiness.
This…
While clutched in the grip of a titan, he felt an unfathomable amount of despair. How did she know? Who was she? No, no, she couldn't have known!
While it is true that it happened more than a century ago, and while it was true that he did a fine job cleaning up after him. But what he didn't count on was the Continental Guardian on the continent observing every act and atrocity as part of their job. While they won't ever interfere, they'll still remember.
With Wei Wuyin's connections and wealth, what type of information couldn't he obtain if it was out there?
Han Yunxi started to fiercely struggle as his astral force exploded, colliding within his body with powerful might. Alas, it was useless. His last bit of struggle, his last bit of remembrance, was met with an invasive force that penetrated into his sea of consciousness. His vision and senses were overwhelmed with violet light and his sense of self felt as if it was being slowly devoured.
He couldn't even surrender.
Da Shan's breath was a little ragged as she forcefully entered his sea of consciousness and extracted his memories. While the memories weren't clear and there wasn't an exact timeline, she saw images of her people being slaughtered. It was merely a brief glimpse, but it was enough.
Her heart trembled with agony and pain.
PSUUSH!
She violently clutched her large hand and Han Yunxi was crushed between her fingers. His head popped off while his torso turned to mush. When she opened her hand, the legs that still twitched fell to the ground in a fleshy thud.
She…she did it.
But…in the end, her father wouldn't return.
Her body started to shrink and her aura deflated. The violet mountain behind her had shook the crowd more than Han Yunxi's death ever could. A seven-ringed Soul Idol! This was a Soul Idol that indicated a genius of peak-tier! Quite a few individuals amongst the Myriad Monarch Sect didn't even know her name, but she revealed talent beyond even their Heavenly Kings! Even her strength was unfathomable!
Da Shan didn't bother looking at her spirit points, simply directly stepping off the platform when the crystal walls faded. Her bloody hands were trembling and her gaze was unfocused. She felt cold, lost, and unsure.
Before she could get too far, a hand grasped her own, giving her warmth. She trembled, looking up to see a pair of silver eyes and an unearthly handsome face that carried a smile. This smile didn't feel as if it was congratulating her. It seemed as if it carried the intent of understanding. It understood her.
Tears started to seep from her eyes and she clutched that hand tightly, finding solace within that firm existence. She collapsed into his embrace, and despite the two feet size difference, her head was firmly hugged in his chest. The feeling of someone holding her as she felt all these emotions was all she needed.
"…" When the crowd saw this, there was silence. They didn't know her story, her emotions, her rage, or her thoughts, but when they saw Wei Wuyin, they all respectfully remained silent. Because it clearly wasn't the right time to speak.
Qing Qiumu stood a little ways away, watching as Wei Wuyin embraced another woman. Her heart felt strange, but she couldn't quite pinpoint why. A layer of mist flowed over her eyes for a moment.
As Da Shan silently released her emotions, the world outside was going absolutely crazy!
