Zoosh! Zoosh! Zoosh!
The earth below his feet elevated, becoming a mound of earth before sharp, grey-colored conical spikes erupted from it. They were extremely swift and sharp, with the thickness of a large oak tree.
Wei Wuyin's silver eyes focused, retreating with small steps that took him several meters away with each. The spikes ascended into the sky like a heaven piercing lance, several coming extremely close to touching his clothes. He was like a shifting ghost as he lightly dodged each spike.
Wherever he stopped for a mere moment, a spike would shoot out from the grey-colored earth with lethal killing intent threatening to puncture him dead. Wei Wuyin twisted and turned his body with powerfully fierce movements. The spikes were forming faster and faster with each passing second, even attempting to predict his movements.
With his Celestial Eyes, he could see the infusion of earthen force by an entity hiding beneath, swimming through the earth whilst following him like a shadow. It was manipulating the surrounding refined earth with a powerful spiritual intent, shaping and moving it with incredible precision and skill.
These spikes weren't products of Creation, but the actual refined grey-colored earth of the continent. "Earth Intent?" Wei Wuyin remarked with a twist of his lips, changing directions as the spikes kept attacking with relentless fervor. He, too, had Earth Intent; furthermore, he had Desolate Earth Intent.
He smiled faintly, his feet stopping and he immediately shot downwards towards the earth. He slammed his two legs into the ground with a vigorously crushing stomp. The surrounding earth rumbled as Wei Wuyin's eyes flashed with white light that resonated a vast and earthly feeling.
Elemental Origin Earth Intent!
He infused his own Intent within the ground, contending with the Intent manipulating the surrounding earth. The two Intents clashed as earthquakes of incredible intensity started to occur without end. But he had stopped the relentless attacks of protruding spikes.
But he hadn't stopped with this!
Elemental Origin Desolate Earth Intent!!
Wei Wuyin started to tap into the latent and potent desolate power within the refined earth, and immediately waved his arms in an elegant fashion as if painting a picture.
"Ah!" An exclamation of surprise resounded from below as the desolate power started to gather, concentrate, and flow into a specific area as it funneled through the earth. It was like a shark swimming aggressively through the ocean as it homed onto the entity below. The entity was immediately pre-occupied by the desolate power, fear clearly within the surprise of its exclamation.
Intent was all about manipulating pre-existing energies within the world to one's own purpose, while transitioning one's own energies to such a power. If Wei Wuyin wanted, his every attack could be infused with Desolate Earth-attributed astral force, and he could manipulate the surrounding earthen energies and desolate power.
But Elemental Origin Intent was a little special.
"Let's see who you are!" Wei Wuyin slowly said as he twisted his fingers, the white light within his eyes started to shift in power, turning from vast and earthly to weightless and free.
Elemental Origin Wind Intent!
The earth energies seemed to be infected by a chemical reaction of exceptional means, starting to transform into wind energies at extremely swift speeds, shifting solid earth into windy air. A turbulent flow of wind erupted in a blink, causing a large swathe of earth, roughly a kilometer in length and hundreds of meters deep, to vanish without warning!
"WHAT?!" Startled by this change, the entity was no longer shielded by the refined earth. It was as if the body of water it was just swimming within had dried out in the literal blink of an eye.
A female figure was quickly revealed! She had off-white skin, with brown-colored eyes and hair. Her entire body, which was slim and petite, was covered in a heavy earthen aura. She seemed to be in her mid-twenties, her entire body wrapped in ash-grey clothes.
Wei Wuyin coughed lightly at this moment. He had used an enormous amount of spiritual energy to achieve this effect, trying to test his limits and miraculous abilities of the Elemental Origin Intent's transitional unity of the nine elements. To change earth to wind, wind to water, water to fire, and fire to earth was an innate characteristic of Elemental Origin Intent.
But it was an exhausting task to perform, even with his extremely high level of spiritual strength. Furthermore, it wasn't very necessary to do so, as there were less consuming methods and arts that could be utilized instead.
Wei Wuyin looked at the halted and confused figure as he smiled. He levitated within the air, the surrounding wind energies circulating around him like he was a god of wind. To add, the wind energies carried abundant desolate power, giving them a grey-colored glow.
The woman soon turned to Wei Wuyin, her eyes narrowed. "You can't be a Soul Idol Cultivator. Why are you hiding your cultivation?" She asked with a little indignantly, still unsure what had just happened, but she knew her Earth Intent was suppressed, and she could no longer freely control the surrounding refined earth as a weapon.
Her name was Ai Shanyuan, and she was extremely gifted amongst elves because she could manipulate her Earth Intent to this level. After all, the four basic Elemental Intents—Earth, Water, Wind, & Fire—must all be comprehended to the most elementary level during the Third Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, Elemental Birth Phase, to cultivate elemental energies and even ascend to the next cultivation stage.
She had birthed Earth Intent and furthered it to an extremely advanced level, allowing her to skillfully manipulate the refined earth and its innate energies with ease. She was well-regarded amongst Grey Sands Elves, even considered as one of the most top talents amongst the tribe, and was held in exceptionally high regard amongst the Ai Clan.
But her efforts and strength was nullified and countered by a measly Soul Idol Phase cultivator? She didn't believe it. Furthermore, he had deactivated the city-wide formation somehow, still shocking her at the moment.
This mysterious existence and means was why she kept herself hidden away, unwilling to fall for a trap.
Wei Wuyin took a small breath, feeling his exhausted spiritual energy recover by the second. He smilingly asked in response, "Would you believe me if I said that I'm just that? A Soul Idol Cultivator?"
Ai Shanyuan furrowed her brows, her spiritual aura started to circulate. Those brown-eyes of hers reflected a vast power of earth within her, revealing her Earthly Astral Soul's foundation. She had forged a Heart of Earth Qi, transformed it into an Earthly Natal Soul and then ascended into the Astral Core Realm with an Earthly Astral Soul.
Her earth-attributed astral force would be numerous times stronger than cultivators of her level, and her manipulation and control of Earth Intent could be reasoned. She had used the Mortal Star Formation Tribulation to glimpse into an Advanced Form of Earth Intent.
Wei Wuyin's eyes constrict slightly from her rising aura. "Sixth Stage…Gravity Emission Phase!" He immediately recognized the innate energies leaking from her aura, but Gravity Emission Phase was slightly different. The cultivation benefits of those at this stage were unique, drawing upon their ability to convert their spiritual aura into a gravitational force.
He saw the ambient spatial energies and light energies distort and twist, clearly a sign of emitting gravity from his body.
Wei Wuyin also felt a pressure exert itself on him, causing him to feel drawn to Ai Shanyuan. It wasn't just his body but his spiritual aura was being pulled into hers, being crushed by the gravitational force beyond its might. At this level, spiritual attacks and various spells could be nullified with extreme ease, allowing cultivators to shatter Spatial Prisons, dissipate Spatial Marks, divert light energies refined astral force, and restrict movement arts.
Wei Wuyin bitterly smiled. The cultivation benefits of the Spatial Resonance Phase, Light Reflection Phase, and Gravity Emission Phases were extremely powerful, and facing them was extremely bothersome. No wonder each phase was considered a vast chasm of difference, especially those at the Sixth Stage. Those at that stage could nullify the benefits of the previous two phases with gravity.
Ai Shanyuan's eyebrows shot up, realizing that Wei Wuyin's spiritual aura lacked a resonance with the ambient space, the characteristics of riding ambient light energes, and lacked its own gravity emissions, causing her to feel utterly surprised.
"You're really a Soul Idol Cultivator?" Her heart started to race with unfathomable disbelief, tinged with bits of fear. This person fought two Light Reflection Phase experts and escaped, then could resist her? This…this…
Wei Wuyin didn't reply this time nor ask his own question. Instead, he pondered for a moment in silence. Then, without any warning, the desolate wind energies around him vibrated as he explosively shot towards Ai Shanyuan. The distance between them was very short for cultivators of their strength, arriving in front of her in the blink of a mortal's eye.
Ai Shanyuan's eyes constricted into needlepoints as she erupted with her fully unleashed aura, releasing an extreme level of twisting gravity, causing the surroundings to release a rumble as the weight of the air had increased considerably.
Wei Wuyin, however, wasn't bothered by this increased gravity. His physical strength was unfathomable, and his draconic force circulated throughout his body as a faint roar resounded, and he clenched his fist. With a direct action, his fist lanced towards Ai Shanyuan's head without a hint of mercy.
Realizing her gravitational force didn't hinder Wei Wuyin, she erected her own astral ward and thrusted her own palm surrounded by brown-colored astral force towards Wei Wuyin's fist.
BOOM!
An explosion of air immediately erupted as the two separated for dozens of meters. Ai Shanyuan was extremely startled by Wei Wuyin's physical power, her hand was even a little numb.
But when she saw Wei Wuyin's hand, her eyes brightened. It was covered in blood, seemingly with crushed flesh and broken bones. Her attack wasn't holding back a single ounce of her power. With her refined light energies astral force, she could bring out a hundred percent of her strength in a moment's notice. The power of a refined astral force of a Gravity Emission Phase expert, someone at the same level as the former Grand Imperial Sages, could not be underestimated.
Wei Wuyin looked at his meaty and disfigured fist, his expression a little twisted. This twisted expression wasn't from pain, but utter disbelief. He was shocked that…
"Why are you so weak?!" Kratos's voice echoed out of his heart, seemingly indignant and offended by Wei Wuyin's injured state.
But Wei Wuyin's expression changed. "That's what I WANT to ask?!" He shouted to the little soul in his heart.
Kratos, "…Not my fault."
"…"