"This shouldn't be possible!"
"He's at the second stage, not the third!"
"…"
The trio reacted to Wu Yu's actions with abject shock and awe, the fear in their eyes was seeded, festering with each passing microsecond with disbelief and uncertainty. And if there were others at the Second Stage of the Mystic Ascendant Realm, the Soul of Mysticism, present here, they too would feel a wave of absurdity from what they were seeing.
Wu Yu's entire aura started to drastically change, and the strange glowing imagery of the boundless night sky emerging from his glabella started to grow. It expanded from his glabella outwards into the world like a rushing wave of water engulfing the senses.
Wu Yu had exhausted a large portion of his Mystic Energy while fleeing, his body and Mystic Core was stressed considerably due to the usage of the Grand Transformations, so much so that he couldn't reactivate these trump cards so easily after deactivating them to limit the resulting consequences.
While he seemed upright and stable, his internal meridians and cultivation base was anything but. It had been pushed to a state where he was about to unleash his strongest means for a chance at survival and escape, even if it left him at the mercy of a Demi-Mortal Lord cultivator should it fail.
Therefore, he was left with resorting to battle trickery to claim an advantage in a battle. Inevitably, his current state wasn't sufficient to effectively eliminate these three genuine Ascended or suppress them with their combined strength, unaffected by exhaustion or internal injuries, so he was left with invoking his strongest card left.
The unique, extraordinary power limited to Demi-Mortal Lord Phase Cultivators: the Demi-Mystic State!
The starry night exploded out at astonishing speeds. The three Ascended gasped, their powers roaring out in defense.
Venerable Kun Yiming shouted urgently: "FIRE!" She was the only one who remained quiet, realizing that this situation was becoming increasingly disadvantageous to them. She ordered the voidships to unleash their barrage of cannons upon Wu Yu!
However, only one ship fired! The Kun Clan's ship! The rest awaited orders from their own leaders, not reacting to Venerable Kun Yiming's demanding shout. This was perfectly understandable considering their lack of cohesive cooperation on authority. Yet, it was also the final nail to all of their coffins.
BRRRRRRUUU!
A deep, explosive sound erupted from one of the cannons that shook the space. That sound occurred purely because the fixed space was unable to handle the stress from a fully-powered cannonball of condensed mystic energy! A shot that could kill even Soul of Mysticism Phase experts if they didn't take it seriously!
Just this one shot exhausted one mystic stone and over three million astral stones! The amount of wealth used was absolutely terrifying to think about, exceeding even small-sized, astral-graded planets in terms of value!
The mystic and astral essence was converted into energy, centered around the immense strength contained within the naturally formed mystic runes, such as the mystic intent and other strange, incredible properties that went beyond the Mortal Limits and pushed it to rival mystic power.
The wave of starry light was impacted by the ball of mystic power the size of a small mountain with a speed that distorted light and even gravity itself. The world bent itself to its cyan-colors, forming a strange phenomenon as it traveled that seemed like a fast moving object pushing against wind resistance.
When it entered the wave of starry night that blanketed Wu Yu's form, the attack seeped into the starry night and vanished, seemingly without rhyme or reason or an end result.
"No! Again! Order them to attack!" Venerable Kun Yiming realized that only one ship—hers—had launched an attack. Realizing the mistake they've made, her frustration manifested in explosive spiritual shouts that caused Venerable Bluecloud and Venerable Slayingsword to tremble.
Without any hesitation, she shot away on her silver wings in an attempt to flee, much to the shock of the two venerables. She was well-aware that if that state finished without any interruption, they would die here today.
All of them.
While sending out their orders, the two venerables felt a rushing surge of energy depart. They followed Kun Yiming's figure with widened eyes. However, this prompted Venerable Bluecloud to react, executing a few hand-seals that sent out blue streams of clouds like gossamers towards Wu Yu before flying after Kun Yiming.
To him, they needed to stay together lest they be picked off one by one.
But Venerable Slayingsword didn't retreat. He was a Sword Cultivator, he was aware that attacking at this moment could change everything, so he took his line of thinking into a plan of action. Cursing their cowardice in his heart, he brandished his pulwar and, sword at ready, rushed towards Wu Yu.
'The fool!' Venerable Bluecloud cursed vehemently in his thoughts, feeling frustrated as he turned back. With a few hand-seals, his cloud accelerated and transformed into a stream of blue light that chased Venerable Slayingsword. Even if the boy's an idiot, he was still his grandson.
That earlier comment that seemed like an insult was the truth! He had taught his grandmother how to properly suck! And suck she did, very well in fact.
That aside, Wu Yu's transformation and the events that followed took a long time to describe, but happened almost instantly. When the glow of the starry night reached several hundred meters in size, it seemed to stretch to its limits, growing taut and trembling.
"Mysticism of Imperial Heaven!" Wu Yu shouted out, causing fixed space to ripple endlessly. The ensuing shots fired out with vicious intent. But the glow rapidly condensed and shapes itself into the form of a single man.
Wu Yu had become painted by the glow of starry light that moved animatedly beneath his skin. His eyes opened to reveal a pair of darkly-colored eyes that resembled the eyes of a ruler, a lord of all things mortal.
The two mountain-sized balls of cyan-colored mystic power arrived and Wu Yu reached out his large hands in front of him. With a press of his palms, the two balls of mystic power were halted.
SHIIIING!
A sword howl erupted. A long stretch of sword energy, like a flowing rushing river filled with killing intent, sped towards Wu Yu with unprecedented accuracy. Surrounding this sword energy was spiraling swirls of blue-colored spiritual energy that were as thin as gossamers, yet as numerous as the stars in the sky.
Wu Yu's eyes shifted to the incoming sword river. He didn't move a single step. Instead, he clenched his fist and thrusted it towards the wave of energy traveling tens of thousands of miles a second, capable of slicing into two planets with ease.
Within the river of sword energy, a cry of abhorrent shock resounded.
"Watch out!" Venerable Bluecloud arrived beside the sword energy, his aged hands stretched into it and wrenched. After a pained shout filled with agony, he retreated with Venerable Slayingsword in tow.
As if to prove that his efforts weren't for nothing, the sword energy exploded! It erupted in a gushing wave of chaos, completely destroyed by an invisible force!
But he was too slow.
Venerable Slayingsword roared even louder in agony, his legs exploding in a torrent of blood, mangled flesh, and crushed bones. The destructive wave of power kept encroaching on him without any signs of halting, reaching his thighs as he tried his best to release a horrified call for help.
But his internal powers were being suppressed. A unique aura had integrated into his body, affecting his spirit, restricting his access to his own strength! His vocal screams did little in a world without air particles. Soundless and afraid—was that how he was going to die?
An unresigned expression emerged on his face.
Venerable Bluecloud was too concerned with running away, not noticing the deadly circumstances of his own grandson. While he couldn't be faulted, if he delayed for another few microseconds in helping, he would've saved only a mangled and dispersed corpse!
WOOSH!
A silver light pierced through space. A beautiful female with a pair of silver wings arrived besides the two.
"You returned?!" Venerable Bluecloud was absolutely shocked! He expected Venerable Kun Yiming to have long since left. She was the first to strike and the first to leave, yet she returned!
Venerable Kun Yiming didn't answer him. She smashed her palms on Venerable Slayingsword's legs, using her strength to pump out outrageous amounts of mystic energy to fight against the Imperial Heaven Aura infecting Venerable Slayingsword.
Pale as ash, Venerable Slayingsword was thankful, but all Kun Yiming could do was halt the destruction. His cultivation base was still subjected to horrendous levels of suppressive power that she couldn't dispel.
"Leave!" She said, looking at Wu Yu. There was a faint suspicion in her eyes, but she didn't voice her thoughts at the abnormality of Wu Yu's Demi-Mystic State. The fact he could unleash it was enough. After all, it was a sign of merging Mystic Intent with physique, the unique cultivation aspect of Demi-Mortal Lords!
The three left behind their subordinates and departed with incredible speed, silver and blue light conjoined in their escape efforts. As for their subordinates, they could only hope they could escape.
Wu Yu was standing in the Dark Void, two balls of mystic power beside him. With a wave of his hand, the two balls swiftly shot towards two voidships. It crashed into their defensive formations and exploded with such force that a half of the celestial rogue's atmospheric layer was shaved away for a few moments despite the vast distance.
The voidships shielding held, and they hurriedly retreated in their damaged state. The undamaged voidship had sped away the fastest. With the retreat of their leaders" staying was futile. As for those still on the celestial rogue, their lives will be up to fate.
"…"
Wu Yu only coldly watched the Voidships escape. After several seconds, a stuffy cough echoed and a spurt of glowing blood exploded from his throat. The Demi-Mystic State vanished, revealing his true state.
He was a bloodied mess, drenched from head to toe, but his eyes were still bright and reflected strength. With a steady and long breath, his body and clothes returned to normal as if time had reversed. Only then did his eyes reflect a distinct weakness.
This was a unique temporal ability of the Soul of Mysticism Phase, an evolution of the Temporal Eye, called Time Reversion. It could revert certain things to a previous state, even saving others from death as long as their souls were complete and retained. However, its cost was lifespan.
Just that act had cost him roughly two hundred years, and he felt every last drain. The laws of time weren't so easily interacted with. Just a few seconds cost this much.
"If all three cannons were shot, I'd be dead." Wu Yu calmly remarked, as if he wasn't on the edge of death just now. He wasn't a genuine Demi-Mortal Lord, just partially due to Wei Wuyin's Ever-Rebirth Pill. His bloodline and physique contained traces of Mystic Intent, allowing him to temporarily, and strenuously, execute the invincible Demi-Mystic State, where one leaned towards the Mystic, further away from the Mortal.
The cannon had impacted his body, and while there wasn't an explosion, he was fully hit by it. If it wasn't for his strong physique empowered and slightly infused with Mystic Energy, he would've been dead.
With a soft sigh, he looked towards the direction of the Ascended who escaped. With a snap of his fingers, the concealed Imperial Heaven Aura within Venerable Slayingsword erupted.
BOOOOOOOM!
A solar star-like explosion erupted in the distance! The brightness and radiance gave light to the lightless void-blank space. The spatial winds buffeted his robes.
The Imperial Heaven Aura wasn't just a means for suppression. It was insidious and multi-faceted. As if he would just let his enemies leave just like that. He withdrew and consumed a ninth-grade recovery product that he had saved from Wei Wuyin's bestowed ring.
With a deadly flicker in his eyes, he explosively shot towards the Voidships fleeing direction with the Myriad Monarch Canon in hand.
None of them will escape.
He couldn't let them. After all, Wei Wuyin could be in one of those ships. That's the only reason they were still alive.
—–
Meanwhile, concealed on the celestial rogue's surface, Wei Wuyin's silver eyes regarded the fight. "The Imperial Heaven Aura is quite terrifying, but Wu Yu is even more terrifying." As he observed the still blazing star-like existence, he wondered if it was a cage, not a fatal move left behind.
When he considered this, he faintly smiled. Wu Yu was incredibly concerned about him, not allowing anyone to escape. He was worth nurturing as an expert and as a loyal subordinate.
"Well, you're ready?" Wei Wuyin could consider this more later. His silver draconic eyes suddenly became completely white, reflecting the power of infinite variations.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Ori shouted excitedly.
