"RUN!" A heavenly cultivator shouted, his cultivation base was erupting to its limits in retreat. The surrounding space trembled and he dashed away without any hesitation. As he looked back, his eyes constricted to a needlepoint in horror.
This cultivator had originally been in the head of a gigantus corpse. Unfortunately, Yan Zaizen had just breathed in the entirety of this corpse and the lifeforce that stayed within. As he did, his shroud of deathly aura became denser and terrifying. The surrounding space it inhabited was being absorbed to the point it didn't seem as if it existed in the spatial void or chaotic space. It was as if it was a realm of death.
Bing He had immense terror in her eyes as she retreated. The original madness and hatred she felt were still prevalent but it was beaten back and overwhelmed thoroughly by fear. The other heavenly cultivators created distance from the battle, leaving Yan Zaizen to enjoy himself thoroughly as the corpses were absorbed.
At this moment, the whites of his eyes were black, the inscriptions on his body extended and grew, it covered his entire body. As he walked, the aura of death was densely permeating the surroundings. A single look left one stifled and felt as if their existence was being siphoned by it.
"Third one!" With a satisfied exclamation, Yan Zaizen felt lively despite his deathly aura. Unfortunately, the other corpses were stored away, and they departed by ripping space and leaving without any hesitation. As he had to siphon the corpses, he couldn't follow them.
"Tch, greedy people. Can't share?" He curled his lips in dissatisfaction. Yan Zaizen turned to check the others, but it seemed they had all used his tiny window of absorption to rip open rifts in space and depart, some of them — the weaker ones — used spatial talismans to depart. Because of the formations to restrict his escape via space, they were left with no other option.
It was quite laughable.
After a vast majority departed, only two groups remained.
Yun Baili and Hei Long's.
Even Bing He left. The only trump card she had was the coffins, but she wasn't willing to throw away thousands of years of her life to only have it be absorbed by another. Therefore, despite her high pride, she threw it aside and decided to focus on preserving her life.
Hei Long had three individuals standing behind him. Each individual seemed to be profoundly powerful, having a heavenly cultivation base at the fourth-floor and wore calm expressions. To them, Yan Zaizen was definitely ferocious, but he wasn't invincible. Not to mention, they had their own methods.
However, when Yan Zaizen turned his death-filled gaze towards their direction, they felt a tremor that originated from their souls and heavenly shrines. It was as if their conceptual laws were trembling, desiring a retreat from this malevolent existence. Their calm expressions were simultaneously replaced with solemn ones.
Hei Long, however, had his eyes flash with an emerald-green light.
"A Mortal Dao?" Yan Zaizen was intrigued. This young man seemed to radiate an aura of a true dao, not a bestowed one. These individuals generally are dozens, if not, hundreds of times stronger than their cultivation equivalent counterparts. This man still had a smile on his face, his conceptual laws and soul didn't quiver a single bit.
"It doesn't seem to be a lower-tier one either," Yan Zaizen noted, his eyes growing with interest.
"Your cultivation is truly incredible, your Fiendgod law is remarkably profound!" Hei Long praised.
He misunderstood Yan Zaizen's deathly aura with a vital energy base as a Fiendgod law. This was when Fiendgod Bodily Methods use specific heavenly materials to refine their bodies, typically relating to a specific concept or an overall law. This was why Ma Xiuren went after the heavenly materials in the Asura Phantom Realm rather than the pills, to find heavenly materials to help refine her vital energy.
This type of Fiendgod law didn't rely on comprehension but on intensity. The greater the Fiendgod rank, the greater the law's power. In the Xiantu Realm, Fiendgod Bodily Methods didn't exist. There wasn't a single individual who reached the Fiendgod level, only Yan Zaizen did unintentionally after refining his organs, meridians, and acupuncture points with Heavenly Law Liquid.
Towards the Immortal Herculean Method, it takes the path of a Herculean, not a Fiendgod, therefore it doesn't focus upon vital energy and only inadvertently developed towards that path. Its primary focus was on the fleshy body itself.
Yan Zaizen laughed, "Thank you!" He didn't care if this young man thought wrongly, but a compliment was something he could wholeheartedly accept.
"Your Dao is fascinating as well, I must say, I feel even my dao is inferior in comparison." Hei Long smilingly said, but Yan Zaizen only jubilantly laughed in response.
With an inhale, Yan Zaizen's deathly aura retracted, completely merging into his body and painting his normally healthy skin an inky, black color. "I wonder, what is it you want?" With a wave of his hand, a token appeared, "this?"
The token appeared ordinary but had 'Xiuhei - Heavenly' on its two sides. These characters gave one the feeling of an immensity comparable to the heavens.
Hei Long and Yun Baili's eyes lit up with a light suffused with intense desire after seeing this token, but they didn't take action. Patiently, they held their impulses down.
"How about I offer a trade?" Hei Long proposed.
"No." Decisively, Yan Zaizen rejected.
"I see." Eyes flickering with emerald-green light, he tensed his heavenly might and the aura exuding from his body was awe-inspiring.
"Oh? Spatial laws?" Yan Zaizen could feel space fluctuate oddly for quite a distance. Unfortunately, the heavenly might that permeated the space was only at the two-floor in intensity. To Yan Zaizen, this didn't offer any threat. The moment it came into contact with his inky, black skin, it was absorbed and caused the aura of death to increase in intensity.
"..." Hei Long saw this and felt helpless internally. He had witnessed Yan Zaizen absorb the spatial void and even chaotic space leaving an absolute void that didn't affect him. His death law enabled him to convert all sources into itself, that was troublesome. He calculated the possibilities of winning, but when he factored in Sky Shatter, the caution in his eyes increased.
With a sigh, he gave one last look at the uniquely powerful Yan Zaizen, "You truly possess the qualifications to participate in the trials." With those words, he and his group decisively retreated. After they disappeared, Yan Zaizen felt awkward. He also felt a little dumb.
"What trial?" Inquiring to no one particular, he looked at the token, "could it be that this token opened a trial? A unique one?" As he wasn't knowledgeable in the Sirius Titan Realm, he couldn't help but feel a little lost. Regardless, he didn't have any intention to participate in a trial with the token unless Ma Xiuren desired it. After all, this was her token, not his. He was only its keeper, using it as a light to find her.
However, Yun Baili didn't seem to be like Hei Long, his eyes flashing with ice-cold decisiveness and killing intent. To him, that token represented a better life and future. To him, this was his chance to no longer be within his brother's shadow and create his own shadow!
He was nearly 33,000 years old. If he missed this trial, the next one could occur in ten thousand years, but only those below 33,000 years could participate! This was truly his last chance.
He didn't speak; instead, his hands motioned as his heavenly might erupted with its full force! He tapped into his bloodline, the gigantus bloodline! As it was galvanized to the maximum with his vital energy, his body grew to the size of a small mountain, reaching nearly two hundred meters in height!
Gigantus Transformation!
His physique and vital energy seemed to become far, far more abundant. The true-essence within his body seemed to be able to rival dozens of normal practitioners. With a shout, the other six cultivators followed, with Yun Jiangang absent, they erupted and grew in varying sizes. Some grew to one hundred meters while others grew about one hundred and fifty meters!
"Oh?" Yan Zaizen was a little shocked. He saw the Gigantus Corpses rivaling small mountains, being able to reach three hundred meters in height, but to see the transformation itself felt surreal. Yun Baili's small body transformed, expanded in mass and aura, by a hundred times! This was something that directly broadened his horizons.
"So this is why they call them the Gigantus race!" He marveled at the wondrous characteristics of human races. His eyes didn't contain a hint of vigilance, instead, there was interest and excitement. "Let's see how strong I am without Sky Shatter!" One of the main reasons he kept Sky Shatter was that it was overwhelmingly strong, and he couldn't clearly define his limitations with it.
This was a perfect opportunity to do so!
Herculean Avatar Art: Life Soul Form!
His deathly aura that was concentrated in his body started to ignite in white flames. The flames erupted like a storm as it shrouded Yan Zaizen's form, continuously burning away all the deathly aura as if it was a diseased rat meeting fire! The deathly aura continued to deteriorate, but as it did, the lifeforce energy that surged from his body erupted with an even greater intensity.
His body was turned into a white sun of fire!
Yun Baili didn't hesitate, he let loose a titanic roar causing space itself to quake violently. Withdrawing a double-sided axe from his heavenly shrine, his aura rose even further. This axe contained deep soulforce and radiated a profound conceptual law that resonated with the axe. It was as if every single movement could cleave apart the world and create it anew!
"A spirit-rank armament?" Yan Zaizen was shocked. This was the first spirit-rank armament that he had seen besides Pinaka. However, this spirit-rank armament seemed to lack Pinaka's depth and strength.
"Tch, it's only a low-grade spirit armament. Nothing to marvel at," Pinaka's voice carried disdain. She was a mid-grade spirit armament, an armament that can materialize and was dao-linked to a peak upper-tier Mortal Dao. This spirit armament was connected to a middle-tier Bestowed Dao and didn't have the ability to materialize its spirit form.
In comparison to her, the difference didn't even need to be described in words.
Yun Baili wasn't done, the six others formed a unique formation that funneled their vital energy, soul energy, and heavenly true-essence into a single, profound manifestation. Another double-sided axe was created from this formation, remarkably similar to the spirit armament in size and design. Yun Baili gripped the manifested axe and the spirit armament, dual wielding both axes. As he did, his aura skyrocketed to an all-time high.
"...Using your weaker members to formulate a manifestation to enhance your personal prowess...just like Yu Shi," he commented. This was a fairly common tactic used against stronger enemies or simply around leaders within a group. After all, you didn't need numbers to defeat a foe; you needed to simply be stronger than your foe.
The soul energy, vital energy, and heavenly true-essence would amplify his soul defense, his physical prowess, and replenish his true-essence if need be. With this, he could execute abnormally powerful arts without being subjected to true-essence depletion, strike harder than ever before, and ignore soul attacks or illusions of a certain level.
This was an undeniable advantage!
"DIE!" Yun Baili rushed towards Yan Zaizen with a momentum that could collapse planets. His eyes were suffused with killing intent that could freeze souls with fear and cause trained warriors to tremble.
"Hmph!" With a step, Yan Zaizen kicked off empty space, propelling towards Yun Baili like a white sun! A streak of white light was left behind on his trail, and this while trail seemed to contain the essence of life itself. In less than a moment, Yan Zaizen and Yun Baili were in close-combat range.
Clench!
With a fist radiating intense lifeforce energy, Yan Zaizen threw a punch forward with indomitable momentum.
Yun Baili accepted Yan Zaizen's direct challenge, lifting both of his axes, and cleaving downwards in unison. The space it passed seemed to be birthing illusory forms of life. This was a profound concept with the Mortal Law of Axe minorly fused with World Law of Life! Before this concept, all would be cleaved and life would be birthed! From this life, the wielder could draw in this energy to restore their physical state, but alas!
Yan Zaizen punch was thrown at an incredible speed, completely exceeding the swinging momentum of the axe, and before it could collide with Yan Zaizen's body, the lifeforce energy had already suffused into his fist that slammed heavily into Yun Baili's gigantic torso!
With a hellish scream, the sound of shattering ribs, dislocation of organs, and obliteration of flesh resounded! Yun Baili was directly sent thousands of li like a mite without strings! The formation manifested by his compatriots were shattered by the concussive force of flesh meeting lifeforce energy infused flesh. The spirit armament had left his hands as the blow struck.
With bright eyes, Yan Zaizen immediately seized this armament with no hesitation. As Yun Baili flew away, blood surged out of his mouth, ears, eyes, and nose!
"Only one blow, tch." Yan Zaizen commented as he stood with a dissatisfied expression. Yun Baili was essentially all bark and no bite. He had a middle-tier bestowed dao, a Mortal Law of Axe-based Heavenly Shrine with four floors, and the support of other heavenly cultivators. Even still, he was far, far too slow.
In the span of that one punch, Yan Zaizen had the capabilities follow up three more times before he was sent away.
"Guess that settles it; I'm around the peak fifth-floor in terms of strength?" He mused, looking a little satisfied. If he had this strength, how could Yu Shi even think about damaging his soul and body? With a single blow, he could send him on his way. Not to mention, he still had Sky Shatter.
"Urgh…"The heavenly cultivators that supported Yun Baili felt disoriented as they were blown back, their organs dislocated, and their minds were shaken. The moment Yun Baili was struck, he lost consciousness, this left them forced to protect themselves from the aftershock.
Observing this, Yan Zaizen's eyes lit up. "I think it's time for spoils of war, it's only right!"
He stepped forward with malicious intentions. But suddenly, directly in front of him, a spatial rift that was three hundred thousand meters in height formed!