C1273 Upgrade of the Spirit Destruction Slash
The Spirit Destruction Slash is the inaugural technique of the Nine Celestial Slashes.
This move is designed to obliterate the spirit, and Yu Yuan had in mind a particular target for annihilation: the entity known as the Voidweaver.
Considering the word "Spirit" in its name, Yu Yuan decided to take a chance. He unleashed the Spirit Destruction Slash from the Nine Celestial Slashes and called upon the Bane to bolster his intimidation.
With a sudden roar, the Bane sprang into action. Each acupoint, previously opened by the Shadow Moon Essence, was now swirling with chilling winds.
It was as though legions of evil spirits and otherworldly beings were bellowing from the netherworld, heeding his summons and engaging in battle at the behest of his spirit and remnant soul.
For an inexplicable reason, he felt as though he had transformed into a formidable Ghost King reigning over the Land of Terror, commanding a sky filled with ghosts in a surreal battle.
"Is it the Shadow Moon Essence? The Bane? Or perhaps the Spirit Destruction Slash itself?"
He experienced a fleeting moment of disorientation but quickly regained his focus, continuing to execute the sword spell, refining his spiritual energy, Soul Power, and vitality.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Beams of scarlet sword light sliced through the Star River, imbued with the purpose of eradicating the essence of all living beings.
The sword light shot forth from his position, reaching the Mystic Gate fashioned by Yan Qiling from an array of black and white chess pieces.
The dazzling Mystic Gate appeared to weave through myriad dimensions, emitting a brilliance that captivated the mind.
Yet, as the first scarlet beam of sword light refined the surrounding cosmos, the enigmatic might of the Spirit Destruction Slash pinpointed the numerous hidden, interwoven dimensions within the Mystic Gate.
Rip!
A peculiar sound of space being rent asunder emanated from within the Mystic Gate. Yu Yuan's consciousness seemed to merge with the initial beam of sword light, engaging in a spectral battle with the Voidweaver's "Spirit."
In a hazy trance, he envisioned countless vibrant butterflies dancing in the void.
The multitude of acupoints he had unlocked roared to life, resonating with the Shadow Moon Essence.
The scarlet sword light gently stirred within the enigmatic Mystic Gate.
Rings of scarlet radiance diffused outwards, revealing glimpses of the Shadow Moon Essence's speckled shimmer. Innumerable Bane converged into a vast river of souls, akin to tributaries stemming from the Root of the Lunar Meridian.
The Spirit Destruction Slash had been significantly enhanced, giving rise to infinite variations.
Yu Yuan found himself in a trance once more. He felt his remnant soul intertwining with the crimson sword light, mingling with the Shadow Moon Essence and numerous Banes. In the depths of the Mystic Gate, they transformed into the River Styx, becoming tributaries of the Lunar Meridian.
At the dawn of creation, the cosmos birthed the Cosmic Giant Beast, among other wondrous entities.
The Roots of the Lunar and Solar Meridians stood out as the most extraordinary and enigmatic of all.
The Lunar Meridian seemed naturally imprinted with the profound mysteries of every soul, while the Solar Meridian shared an uncommon bond with the lifeblood of all beings.
Even the formidable Nie Qingtian, who had mastered the Nine Celestial Slashes, could not decipher the secrets of the Lunar Meridian.
His Spirit Destruction Slash, merely the first of the Nine Slashes, should not have possessed such awe-inspiring might. Yet, in Yu Yuan's hands, bolstered by the Shadow Moon Essence, empowered by legions of Banes, and through several close encounters with the Lunar Meridian, the technique appeared to have transcended to a higher plane.
"Eh!" Yan Qiling uttered in astonishment.
His constrained body and spirit suddenly operated with ease. Narrowing his eyes, he observed the dazzling Mystic Gate, crafted from black and white chess pieces, where colorful butterflies were being ruthlessly slain across overlapping dimensions.
The resplendent Mystic Gate, a symbol of spiritual wisdom, was being severed by the sword light.
Yan Qiling reestablished a spiritual link with his instruments. With a mere thought, he watched as the chess pieces, both black and white, took flight from the disintegrating Mystic Gate.
As the chess pieces departed, the power continuously emitted by the Voidweaver abruptly ceased.
The Yanli from Shadow's Keep, locked in combat with the Sky Fiend, began to show glimmers of spiritual wisdom in its frenzied, murky Demonic Eyes, as if it were on the verge of regaining consciousness.
"It's working!"
The Frost Queen, cradling the empress, noticed the colorful butterflies on Chen Qinghuang's forehead, cheeks, and neck quickly fading away.
The elusive Voidweaver, hidden from sight, was unable to channel its mysterious psionic powers through the Warp Gate. Consequently, it couldn't sustain the frenzy among the archdemons and spirit animals.
When its essence was infused into Chen Qinghuang's body to suppress and bind the empress's power, it proved incapable of maintaining that influence.
Whoosh!
The drop of tender green blood left by the empress, like an emerald flame, suddenly burrowed into the Frost Queen's brow.
In a flash, it was gone!
The Frost Queen's form tensed briefly, then her eyes sparkled with excitement as she exclaimed, "Adele is grateful for the empress's favor!"
A drop of dark green blood within the Frost Queen's crystalline body transformed into a heart the size of a fist.
This verdant heart pulsed with vibrant life force, bestowing upon the Frost Queen the essence of flesh and blood.
Previously, despite the Frost Queen's icy form, her powers lacked the essence of vitality, rendering her entire being as rigid as an ice sculpture.
She stood majestic and untouchable, like a deity of frost and snow, but her movements were hindered by the absence of vital energy.
The blood of Chen Qinghuang, now coursing through her, seemed to endow her with a corporeal form, allowing her to refine her demonform anew through the power of the blood.
The Frost Queen emerged as the greatest beneficiary.
"Congratulations, Your Highness!"
The Sky Fiend was ecstatic, wielding the silver-white chains forged from the Frost Vein to lash the Tar-Backed Bull until it slowly transformed into a crystalline black ox.
The black ox bellowed in frustration, agitated and restless over the coveted green blood now possessed by the Frost Queen.
"The remnants of the Voidweaver's power will eventually be purged completely. We..."
Yanli came to her senses. She ceased her joint assault with the black ox against the Sky Fiend.
Instead, she turned to Ogeus, Yan Qiling, and Yu Yiyi, advising, "Black ox, while the secular bird's malevolent thoughts have yet to corrupt us, let's make our escape swiftly."
"A ninth-level Golden Rock Beast thinks it can slay me?"
Yan Qiling readied himself, noting Ogeus's intent to withdraw. He shared a knowing look with Yu Yiyi.
Yu Yiyi continued to wield her Spirit Magic, stirring chaos within Ogeus's demon soul, while Yan Qiling positioned himself on Ogeus's retreat path, casting chess pieces one after another.
The black and white chess pieces hissed as they conjured dazzling blades of spatial light, creating obstacles in Ogeus's path of retreat.
"Don't! Don't tap into the space magic!" Yu Yuan exclaimed.
He keenly sensed that with the emergence of the radiant spatial blades, the influence of the Voidweaver had suddenly intensified.
This indicated that any arcane technique involving space, whether it formed a Mystic Gate or a rift, could be exploited by it.
It was the first entity in the cosmos to thoroughly grasp the mysteries of space magic.
It seemed capable of leveraging arcane phenomena related to space, such as the Maw of Oblivion, space rifts, and Domain Channels, to project its psionic power.
In comparison, the Chronowyrm was at least one notch below in terms of space magic proficiency.
"Understood!"
Yan Qiling also detected the ominous shift. He had hoped to covertly deal a heavy blow to Ogeus but promptly ceased his clandestine preparations. The poised space rifts, lurking in the shadows, vanished without a trace.
He immediately felt that the Voidweaver's psionic power had not intensified further.
"Could the Origin Realm truly be connected to it? Is it the Origin Deity? If not, the actual Origin Deity... must be exceedingly formidable!"
Yan Qiling was profoundly shaken.
Though the Voidweaver was less powerful than the secular bird, it was still a being of the same echelon, the creator of a species.
The thought of a being capable of subduing such an anomaly, compelling it to willingly obey and serve, if such an entity truly existed, it would have to be the enigmatic Origin Deity.
Taking a deep breath, Yan Qiling's mood grew somber.
Reflecting on the Domain Channel within the Hellmouth, the inexplicable Origin Gate, and the emergence of Skyreach Peak along with the numerous Otherkin Domains in recent years, he felt the weight of the challenge ahead.
