Yan Zaizen wasn't an unreasonable individual with no sense of mercy. He looked at Ying Fenmian, "Fine. All of you, cripple your cultivation." His words were decisive. Not letting them off with an apology or leaving room for discussion. They wanted to capture and kill him! They wanted to use him as a pawn! They should already be happy for this act of mercy.
However, when He Shijing heard that and his expression turned livid. He shouted viciously, "Activate the Formation!"
"Wait!!" Ying Fenmian tried to stop He Shijing from acting, but the people controlling the formation were from the He Clan, not the Ying Clan.
A brilliant light illuminated the skies. Yan Zaizen looked at this formation and found that there were 36 stones floating above, resonating and connecting, producing an exquisite formation. "A rank seven formation…"
He thought for a second and then spoke, "Fine. Then, die." With a thought, the tendrils clenched, the soul flames and forms of the Qi Unification cultivators were immediately snuffed out of existence. Their bodies went limb, and their final gazes held untold hatred towards not only Yan Zaizen but He Shijing.
"A formation requires all pieces, remove one piece, and it's impossible to activate at its full power. The most direct way of doing so is by overpowering the formation to eliminate an essential part of it." He thought from his earlier studies on formation in the Yan Clan. Typically, the foundation of this never changes. This is why he was capable of destroying the tracking formation by shattering its foundation with force.
The same applies here, no matter how high ranked.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!" He screamed, mustering up a massive amount of soul energy that produced hundreds of tendrils. They didn't stop at that, while the others gawked at these aurora-like tendrils of light, they fused together into one. As they did, each tendril became larger and larger until it turned into one massive tendril. This tendril looked as if it had the Aurora Borealis inside of it, and it was breathtakingly beautiful.
The onlookers were shocked, and deep within Xuanwu City, an elderly woman had a very solemn expression. She was the elder of the Earthly Titan Sect that was assigned to act as overseer and City Lord of Xuanwu City. Her cultivation base was extraordinarily profound, at the Origin Core Realm! When she saw the tendril, she felt imminent danger to herself. She felt that this tendril could bring her fatal harm. Inwardly, she was terrified.
As an Origin Core expert, how could she not be knowledgeable about soul cultivators? After one reaches the Perfect Nascent Soul, which rivaled a weak origin core cultivator, they can ascend to the Aurora Soul. The Aurora Soul could rival a peak-Origin Core Realm practitioner, but what's different between the Nascent Soul and Aurora Soul, was that the Aurora Soul could become corporeal, possesses extraordinary telekinetic prowess, and can exhibit raw power similar to a weak-O C.
If Yan Zaizen were to use Pneuma Disruption, the attack could, if used properly, eliminate all those under the True Essence Realm. As of right now, he had only made use of the corporeal ability of the Aurora Realm, and thus his strength was capable of sweeping all those under the Origin Core Realm.
Her eyes revealed a trace of fear and panic. Someone at this level of power would be a powerhouse in the entire country of Presba! What made her scared wasn't because of the battle outside, but what made her panic, was that he used the name 'Han Zaiji', which meant he was connected to Han Genji. If he learned that Han Genji was dealt with by both the Soaring Cloud Sect and Earthly Titan Sect jointly due to their greed, despite their differences, would he act against them in the future?
Yes! Who wouldn't?
However, what could she do but hope that day doesn't come? "I could..." Her eyes glinted with a malicious thought.
Back at the battle, the enlarged tendril shot towards the sky rending the sky with its power. It collided fiercely with one of the formation stones. Initially, the formation resisted the forceful strike. This gave all those below hope, but then the stone started to crack before their eyes due to the strain.
Yan Zaizen released another thundering roar. A second tendril the same size as the one attacking formed suddenly and shot out. It reinforced the first in its assault. The moment this occurred, the formation looked as it reached a critical point, and it completely shattered the stone into nothing. Perhaps if the formation was formulated by Qi Unification Cultivators and not Essence Formation Cultivators, the formation wouldn't have been so easy to destroy.
After its destruction, the formation exploded and the people managing the formation all suffered rebound.
Unfortunately, those in the Essence Formation Realm exploded from the rebound. Their lives ended. The blood surged into the skies, and some of them screamed harshly, unwilling to yield to death, but alas, they died all the same.
The sky was filled with bits of organs, blood, and screams of unwillingness. Nearly 50 Essence Formation Cultivators operated the formation, and they all died violently from the rebound. The formation collapsed. Bits and pieces of it landing on the ground harmlessly.
Yan Zaizen felt an exhaustion of the soul, but his qi and vital energies were still as vibrant as ever. He Shijing was surprised at what was happening, he was contemplating leaving, but then he saw Yan Zaizen tired out of his mind taking deep breaths to adjust. He roaringly ordered one of his Qi Unification Henchmen, "Kill him while he's weak!"
Hearing this, Yan Zaizen's eyes were eerily calm. He looked at He Shijing from a distance, his gaze staring at all that he was and all that he is. Now, It was all that he will ever be.
"Die."
A surge of soul energy shot forward at speeds that even Origin Core Cultivators couldn't react to. It was Pneuma Disruption! The last thing he saw was Yan Zaizen looking at him, judging him, and deeming him unfit to live. His soul flame was snuffed out, and his body lost its support like a puppet cut of its strings.
The two Qi Unification Cultivators were surprised. Witnessing this, they panicked, and one of them took off immediately. Clearly, he had no intention of dying today. As for the other, he looked towards Yan Zaizen solemnly. He cupped his hands and said a few words, "I apologize if I have offended you. Please spare me."
"Hmph." Yan Zaizen only snorted in response, his eyes looking towards the Qi Unification Cultivator who was fleeing in the distance.
Pneuma Disruption!
His flying body fell from the sky and landed harshly on the ground with a soft thud. Seeing this, everyone in the crowd was shocked. This guy...he was a monster!!
However, he didn't slay the one who begged for his life. Seeing this, the old man bowed courteously, giving thanks before taking off. Everyone was waiting with bated breath for his death, but he successively fled the scene. However, before he left completely, he had released a soft grunt that caused him to pause mid-air, and then he continued onwards.
Yan Zaizen was not one to execute someone who begged for their life, especially if they didn't directly take action towards him. However, how could he just let him off like that? He used a weakened Pneuma Disruption to damage his soul as punishment for his actions. He turned towards those of the Ying Clan, his eyes looked towards them with hellish indifference.