The armored man's knees heavily hit the floor, his arms grew limp by his sides and those dark eyes of his faintly revealed through his helmet grew dazed and unfocused. His head oddly leaned to the side, as if he had lost control of a portion of his neck's strength.
Wei Wuyin had released a burst of spiritual strength to impact the armored man's Sea of Consciousness and Astral Soul, instantly causing him to be subdued and incapacitated. Wei Wuyin's spiritual strength was not a product of a single Astral Soul, but four! Each of them absorbed his maxed out mental, physical, and essence energies to form the greatest spiritual energy mixture! Their foundation was at their highest!
Moreover, three were at the Nine-Ringed Soul Idol level while Ori, his oldest Astral Soul, was at the Ten-Ringed heaven-defying Soul Idol level! These Soul Idol Rings were an expression of a multiplicative leap of his spiritual strength based on their foundation, which was already at their highest limits!
A simple shout of his spiritual strength was an innate spell in and of itself!
The armored man kneeled there like a puppet cut of its strings. Wei Wuyin still didn't offer him a single glance, merely floating upwards and towards the city, passing his collapsed form like it was trash by the side of the road. He rose higher and higher, causing the people below to lift their gazes up to see his figure.
As he did, he glanced at the awed expressions of those below. His silver eyes indifferently swept across the world, swiftly inspecting the faces of all those present and watching. Unfortunately, he didn't find any familiar faces or auras. None of the three thousand entrants of this trial, excluding himself, was present. At least, none of those he saw.
There could be San Clan members present, so he tried to inspect their surprise and shock to see if any recognized him of his name, but to no avail. Considering this world was so vast, it made sense it'll be extremely difficult to discover others. To depressingly add, some might've already died or been captured in this world with stronger cultivators.
When he thought of this, his Celestial Eyes flared with mysterious and ethereal light. He thought of Qing Qiumu and Da Shan. He couldn't glimpse into anything concrete, but he felt an ominous chill flow down his spine. He frowned, realizing that they might actually be in trouble somewhere. But he didn't feel a non-specific trend of dread and death, so it was unlikely they met their demise.
With this in mind, he decided to amp it up. He had to push his agenda with absolute power, alter any and every event through his actions. The greater the uncertainty, the better his protection from being schemed against by that Temporal Reincarnator!
His voice was infused with a mighty tone, domineering and imperious, "I said I seek an audience. I don't have time to handle your insignificant dogs. Either you come out yourself or I WILL drag you out!" His eyes swept the city until it reached a magnificent tower that was rather wide, but similarly tall. It was nearly a hundred meters tall, and it gave off a very refined aura.
Clearly, this was the headquarters of the City Lord. When his eyes pierced into that direction, he released a flow of spiritual aura that penetrated into the tower and wildly erupted. A boom was heard, and a vicious and powerful snort resounded.
The snort was like thunder to the ears of the weak, making them cower in fear and horror. It originated from the tower, and then a vast, world-sundering aura exploded from the tower. But the figures inside didn't reveal themselves.
Instead, they calmly ordered: "Restrain this fool; Activate the Desolate Ninth Mountain Astral Formation!" It seemed the voice was cautious. They likely assumed that this was a trap set by a powerful cultivator to lure them out, likely sniping them from afar before the city formation could activate.
The one inside the tower sneered to themselves. They weren't fools that would fall for such a simple ploy. They intended to activate the formation and capture Wei Wuyin, then deal with any attacks or plots after under its protection.
A few seconds after.
"…"
The residents and Seekers felt that something was wrong. They thought the formation should activate, especially after the City Lord had ordered its activation. Quite a few were intrigued at the prospects of witnessing the activation and usage of the legendary formation that defended against top-tier experts and Desolate Devils alike.
Alas, there was no response.
Wei Wuyin felt the attempts to activate it, a faint smile surfaced on his face. He had already thoroughly isolated the formation. In fact, he was currently investing more astral force in an attempt to thoroughly refine the formation core and gain complete control of it. He had consumed fifty percent of his Alchemic Eden Astral Core's World Sea already, taking his time to ensure that he properly and completely grasped control of it.
He quietly waited, funneling more and more astral force via Instant Transmission. While he was acting imposing, he still felt that taking control of the formation first would be easier. The reason he allowed the grey armored man to attack him for so long was because he was reaching a crucial point. He just needed a little more time…
He had already taken over ninety percent of the city formations, and he could activate them at will unlike others who needed a formation flag to direct it. He had enough astral force to drive it entirely by himself, possessing eighty times the reserves of an ordinary Gravity Emission Phase expert.
"…"
Several more seconds later, the existence in the tower was sending out his spiritual sense to investigate. After a short period, an exclamation echoed out from the tower. It was filled with uncertainty and confusion. Then, another figure inside the tower did something that revealed an unfathomable strength!
They unfurled a Worldly Domain!
A translucent and intangible sphere expanded!
It wasn't large, engulfing an area of roughly a hundred meters, mostly the area around the tower, and it ventured down below as the ambient energies, mana, and astronomical forces of the world were taken under their control. But the restrained mana due to the Season of Regression caused it to have very little influence on the ambient mana, preventing them from converting it into their own power.
Wei Wuyin's eyes constricted after witnessing this. A Realmlord!! Moreover, this wasn't a False Worldly Domain that the San Clan Realmlords acquired due to a pill, but a genuine Worldly Domain! This person cultivated to this point, overcoming the astral tribulation for it with their own strength!
His heart started to throb intensely, feeling a wisp of shock in his heart. Fortunately, the Worldly Domain was extremely small. Tuo Bihan's Worldly Domain could cover tens of times that size, enough to engulf the entire main hall of Myriad Monarch Sect's Throne Room and all its inhabitants.
He realized the size of one's Worldly Domain differed considerably based on their foundation, and Tuo Bihan had been retroactively enhanced to the Nine-Ringed and Nine-Ripple state with numerous physical, mental, essence, and astral force amplifying resources, be it quantity or quality-based.
He frowned as the Realmlord ventured downwards, traveling to the center of the formation that handled the regulated the others. There was a momentary pause, and then Wei Wuyin brightly smiled.
His silver eyes shone with light that was vast and heavy as he interacted with the Desolate Ninth Mountain Astral Formation! A yelp of unexpected shock resounded, followed by harsh rumbling and then an abrupt and complete silence.
"…"
The Worldly Domain manifested had vanished, the aura of the Realmlord along with it. Wei Wuyin turned to the tower, his eyes piercing into it and noticing that the individual who snorted and called him a fool, the City Lord, was there with a messy and distraught aura.
Wei Wuyin grinned, not expecting it to be this easy! Furthermore, the City Lord wasn't a Realmlord. It was a guardian of the city, and this guardian was foolish enough to investigate the formation core, entering both its most vulnerable yet strongest location. In moments, they were sealed and restricted.
Even Wei Wuyin was startled by the sheer power of the formations when activated, realizing that his foresight and caution to take preventive measures was still the best, and brawns are best paired with brains. While it felt good to act with overwhelming strength, there were many things in this world that allowed the weak to suppress the reckless and strong, not just numbers.
With the Realmlord trapped, the formations under his control, he turned his hand over and created a small ball of flickering white lightning within his palm. It had the heat and volatility of Violet Lightning, possessing its inherent Intent.
"Then, I'll drag you out." His words were more leveled, not as explosively, but it caused a chill to resound through everyone's spines. With a screeching sound of lightning, the ball shot forth and arrived at the tower instantly.
BOOM!!
The tower was impacted, the long-since placed defensive formations on it didn't activate, already within Wei Wuyin's control. A large hole was produced in the tower from the explosion, revealing a figure that was seated in a throne-like chair, their appearance finally being revealed. Their aura was quite a mess.
A middle-aged man with black hair with greyed temples, giving him a uniquely attractive quality. He was slender-looking within his luxurious robes but still contained an imposing presence, revealing a pair of dark brown eyes.
Those eyes looked at Wei Wuyin, a trace of fear reflected within them. Despite being at the Sixth Stage of the Astral Core Realm, the Gravity Emission Phase, he couldn't help but clenched his hands around the armrest of his throne as he regarded Wei Wuyin through the giant hole in his once invincible tower.
Wei Wuyin nodded as if his emotions were only right and proper, "Good. Now, allow me to inform you: This city is now MINE!" As he said this, he stomped his foot in the air, and eight thick pillars of grey light erupted, surrounding the city. These thick pillars of desolate light concentrated directly above the city, producing a mirage of a grand mountain.
The mountain shone light that highlighted Wei Wuyin's figure, making his already handsome figure even more so.
The City Lord gawked, looking at the mountain image above with a thunderstruck expression!!
The residents, the foreign and domestic Seekers, the young woman and old man playing a casual board game, and even Ai Juling were wide-eyed, open-mouthed, and clutching at their beating chests in incredulous shock!
WHAT?!
