RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
The turbid air of the Nexus Battlefield, still permeating with Wei Wuyin's raw poisonous mixture, began to thunderously rumble incessantly. The ground quaked chaotically. It seemed the very earthen layer that constituted the Nexus Battlefield was trembling!
The Spirits of War were appalled, yet they were highly trained, suitable men for the battlefield, so they hunkered down with solemn thoughts and pounding hearts, looking at the cause of all this chaos. A single man, a mortal, standing with the spine of his saber held against his shoulder, covered in grey draconic scales, with his eyes tightly shut as if unwilling to view the world itself!
The quaking of the earth, the vibrating of the air, the pounding of their hearts were strangely all induced by the same being. It resonated with his every breath. It replied to his every step.
At the forefront of the army was the heavy infantry unit, armored up and numbering over two thousand. They were ferociously fierce, beefy, heavily armored, and orderly, yet for some reason, they seemed insignificant and small.
The Legion Commander's warhorse ceased its huffs and puffs amidst shaky legs, as if its instincts as a beast were being invoked! It was growing more submissive by the passing second, lowering its head while lifting its eyes. The Legion Commander himself was looking up to the point his chin was pointing forward, and the reins of his warhorse were being tightly clutched.
The poison expert balked, her voice quivered with disbelief. The vocal aspect of her personality refused to allow her to stay silent, shouting vehemently: "IMPOSSIBLE! What the HELL is THAT?!"
Her words were the thoughts of every last Spirit of War as they faced a single man, but not alone. Behind this man, to be exact, far above him, was a grey-colored cloud of enormous size and terrifying pressure. Within this grey cloud, equalling 108,000 meters, was the figure of an indiscernible being! Besides its gargantuan wings, the sleekness of its bodily form, and sharply-oriented head resembling dragons, there was nothing they could identify!
Yet there it was, and they knew what it was. In their hearts, they all knew.
"A true dragon…" The Legion Commander whispered ever so softly, as if afraid of attracting the being swimming within the cloud's attention. If one were to ask him how he knew, he would be unable to tell you. It was as if it was ingrained into his very soul to recognize this being, and he was artificial, so this meant it belonged to the very essence of the material he was constructed from!
To cultivators, dragons existed. They weren't legendary figures, and one could even tame them if they decided to, if they had enough strength to do so. The Desolate Dragnet Stellar Region was the home of countless dragons, and that was originally a part of the Azure-Prime Galactic Region, so one could see they weren't rarities.
However, True Dragons were pure-blooded existences that have long since become mere legends in the annals of history, impossible existences that were deified and revered by all forms of humanoid beings alike, and the ultimate goal and worshipped idol of dragonkind. A progenitor, exceeding even phoenixes of legends.
Guan Yu and the woman were wide-eyed, shook and shaken, unable to comprehend what they were seeing! Yet while the woman was focused on the shadowy existence within the cloud, Guan Yu was focused on the impossible sight as the only living mortal in close proximity!
"Thirteen…thirteen…THIRTEEN! THIRTEEN!!!" He pointed at the cloud, no, specifically pointed at the grey-colored rings that engulfed the cloud that emitted spiritual light! He had never seen grey-colored spiritual rings before, their colors were almost always cyan, reflective of the base colors of spiritual energy and light. But what shook him wasn't the sight of a cloud that reached 108,000 meters in height, or the existence swimming within it with unparalleled arrogance, elegance, and prestige, but the thirteen Soul Idol Rings!
The woman was jolted from her awe and terror. As an Ascended, she saw and understood more, closer to the essence of unseen divinities and godly beings than a mere mortal like Guan Yu, so she was just as shook as the Spirits of War. Due to this, she had inadvertently missed the thirteen swirling rings that existed. They spun with such speed that they seemed to be still!
'A SOUL IDOL?!' She gawked. Her eyes were unable to believe what she was seeing. All her understanding of cultivation was shattering in its entirety, likely requiring to be reforged later, hopefully more open-minded with broader horizons, but now it was overturned without mercy.
THIS? THIS WAS A SOUL IDOL?!
"Aren't Soul Idols typically nine hundred meters max! If anything, they can become ten thousand meters maximum, and that's if the Soul Rings are thoroughly refined after manifestation, and the user has Ten-Rings with all its potential excavated! What…what the hell is this? This can't be real?! Right?! RIGHT?!" Guan Yu went on a tirade of fierce rejection. He looked towards the mysterious woman, knowing her background and cultivation base, hoping to seek verification of his desired belief.
But he was met with abject silence.
Not just from the woman, but every being in the Nexus Battlefield. Even most of their breathing had ceased.
ROAR!!!
Simultaneously, those who were unable to breathe, seemingly restrained by a terrifying spiritual pressure, breathed out in horror!
Step.
Wei Wuyin moved. The Spirits of War felt their hearts clench and irregularly throb, their eyes lowered from that gargantuan existence, looking at Wei Wuyin whose entire body was enveloped in a grey light. From every pore of his body, spiritual light was being effused.
Wei Wuyin lifted his free hand, placing it before his face, and he could feel the immense spiritual strength swell within his entire body. It was…it felt phenomenally good! Was this power? Was this his power?!
All of it?
No.
This wasn't all of 'his' power.
Since he became an Inheritor of Sin, forging his path with sentient Spirits of Cultivation that self-cultivated and the Alchemic Dao, he had never found an equal or placed himself in a position to face strong foes far beyond his power or cultivation. He was always at an advantage, never suffering a single loss, never pushed to the edge. This was due to his intelligence, his caution, and his willingness to exploit rather than directly snatch. Only fools faced nigh-impossible odds.
He had nothing to prove, so he never needed to make enemies with every step in his arrogance. He had subordinates, so he never needed to fight weaklings. He had status, so no one dared to offend him. Even when facing those Holy Clans within the Four Extreme Continent, an opportunity to use his greatest strength, he resorted to using his brain and available pieces to cause its collapse in a mere few actions.
Yuan Longshi, Long Chen, Jing Jiu, even Lin Ming, these Blessed were never able to push him to his limits. The latter of which barely claimed victory against Zuhei, nearly losing his life to do so.
Yet now, he stood facing 10,000 Spirits of War, all Ascended, weakened and restrained, but Ascended nonetheless. He wouldn't hold back—he couldn't. This was his fight and he had no other avenues to take, and at the moment, his Astral Souls thrummed with excitement, reflecting the depths of his own soul that was equally as expectant.
Suddenly, the earth quaked; the wind current grew turbulent; the moisture in the air solidified into mist; the temperature of the world rose; a metallic taste suffused the air; electricity crackled randomly and everywhere; plants of all types started to rapidly grow, sway, and the flowers amongst them lively bloomed; patches of earth began to spontaneously rise with heat, becoming molten-like; ice crystals manifested within the mist of moisture.
The elements of the world all reacted. If before it was the living beings of the world reacting to the sheer presence of the Draconic Void Soul Idol, then the very world itself was reacting to the manifestation of this one!
"…What's happening?!" Guan Yu could feel the air and earth experience drastic, seemingly random, changes without warning. He was fearful.
There was no sound, no roar, no howl, just the manifestation of a gigantic 108,000 meter-sized white sphere effusing out copious amounts of white mist! It was similarly engulfed by thirteen rings, and they were all pristinely white! Yet the accompanying pressure sent the Spirits of War hastily bracing themselves! Such spiritual pressure! What the heck was that?!
Seeing a mist-emitting sphere abruptly manifest within the world, their hearts were grasped by tumultuous emotions. But as soldiers, they stayed true to their orders, and since none have been issued, they remained where they were and at the ready!
"Not enough," Wei Wuyin felt the spiritual strength within him elevate to an obscene level. Before he consumed the transcendent Soul Deity Invoker Elixir, he already had troubles maintaining his Soul Idols, but after consuming the transcendent Astral-World Deluge Pills, his World Seas contained absurd amounts of energy, and the Mystic Runes further enhanced the quality of his spiritual energies.
In truth, the issue of his spiritual strength reaching a level far too unbearable for his Celestial Eyes to handle wasn't just due to the elixir's replicated tribulation, but also the Mystic Runes and their enhancing effect on his four essential energies. A compounding issue of excellence far beyond one's limits. As a mere mortal, he had introduced far too much transcendent power into his body!
If he didn't have a peak Mortal True Void Dragon Bloodline, a body refined by its bloodline energies, and his own highly refined physical energies, he would've long since been evaporated into nothing by even a wisp of his own power!
Now that his physique was thoroughly refined, to the utmost limits of his physical energies by the Nexus Battlefield through some unknown means, he felt emboldened.
Wei Wuyin didn't hesitate to invoke his other two remaining Soul Idols!
Without warning, the Soldiers of War in the Nexus Battlefield held their heads in agony, some outright started to cry with intense emotional outcries as if they were recalling heartrending losses, and some even lost consciousness.
An illusory tree shimmered into existence, a full 108,000 meters in size, and its roots were so thick and long that they visibly seeped into the world's earthen layer, phasing into it. It seemed to have an intangible body, yet when some saw it, they felt as if it was as real as every thought they ever had.
SHIIIING!!!
A deafening saber howl was unleashed, and it caused all, without any outlier, to look at the chaotic sky that was sealed due to the declaration of war. All their eyes were focused on a specific spot on the ceiling, and a faint silver light scar appeared without rhyme or reason. This scar grew. It kept growing until it stretched out for miles!
Wei Wuyin could feel it.
A sound resounded.
"Tch!"
It sounded human, yet it also sounded incredibly alien. The scar expanded fiercely and from it, the edge of a sharp blade revealed itself.
SHIIING!
The saber howl this time was extremely ear-splitting! Forcefully, as if nothing could stop the sharpness of its edge, the chaos was split and a 108,000 meter saber descended, crashing down towards the Nexus Battlefield like a meteorite! It was a short descent, but its edge's tip touched the ground's surface. However, it didn't cut through it, merely halted with immense control. It was as if it was sparing the very world from its unstoppable edge!
It stopped right before Wei Wuyin.
"Show off!" Kratos' voice echoed out through the grey-cloud, but to everyone below, they only heard a draconic roar of the greatest volume that discombobulated their senses. What Wei Wuyin felt when interacting with the War Spirit before was replicated to great effect!
Wei Wuyin looked at the Soul Idol in the perfect shape of a saber, the very same shape as the one he held in his hand at this very moment. His head cocked slightly to the side, and then he touched its surface. The seemingly tangible Soul Idol that lacked mass and substance was physically touched!
Wei Wuyin's mind stirred.
"I see!" Wei Wuyin lifted his material saber, and the Divine Saber Soul Idol before him released another howl. Then, unexpectedly, it began to shrink at an extremely swift rate. Without warning, it became the same size as the saber he held. Then, as if it was always so, the Soul Idol merged with the saber, thirteen silver rings manifested around it.
Wei Wuyin tightly held the hilt of his saber, feeling the immense power bestowed to the Nascent Saber Soul—Element.
While all this took time to describe, all of it happened within the span of three seconds.
This was Wei Wuyin's strongest state fully unleashed! He 'looked' ahead, feeling his spiritual sense break through the restrictions of the Nexus Battlefield and directly enveloping a thousand meters in every direction!
He can finally view the world!
Wei Wuyin smirked, but he had a single sentence in mind: "Forty-eight seconds is all I have."
In his strongest state, the consumption of his spiritual energies were horrendously high, and despite all his maximization, he was only able to unleash all four Soul Idols for forty-eight seconds before he ran out of power. Just forty-eight seconds!
"It's enough."
The Legion Commander was still awed by the developments that he was unable to fathom what was happening, leading to his army becoming a machine without a purpose. This was very human-like, also calculated within Wei Wuyin's thoughts. Because of what the War Spirit said, these Spirits of War were all prone to mistakes and emotions just like other beings!
And he needed these three seconds of shock, awe, and confusion, because Ascended could unleash numerous attacks in the span of three seconds. Especially ten thousand of them!
SHIIING!
"Argh!"
"Ahhhh!!!"
"NOOOO!!!" A Battalion Commander shouted fiercely as he watched half his unit get engulfed by saber light. He instinctively tried to unleash his power, yet the raw poison within his body was activated, causing him to spontaneously weaken in his attempt to stop it, yet he too was engulfed. His life ended by that light.
The Legion Commander finally reacted swiftly, looking ahead to see Wei Wuyin's thirteen ringed saber emitting faint saber light from its tip, postured as if he had just swung it.
"Forty-seven seconds," Wei Wuyin softly muttered to himself.
