C197 You Reap What You Sow!
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Golden ancient script soared from the ancient tome held by the learned man.
The resonant reading echoed between heaven and earth, shaking the clouds as thunder and lightning seemed poised to strike.
The weaker Aberrant Souls and Demon Spirits, upon hearing the sonorous voice, appeared to be scorched by the blazing sun, vanishing into ash in an instant.
Even the more formidable alien souls were screeching, desperate to flee.
Controlled by Van Hen through the Lunar Spirit, the learned man from the once-dominant Van family on the Euwrea Continent manifested his residual soul and consciousness. His booming calls seemed to cleanse the filth of the world, purifying all beings.
The Aberrant Souls, tainted with the world's dregs and impurities, were the intended targets of this cleansing.
Van Hen's spirits lifted visibly as she watched the alien soul archdemons perish miserably under her ancestor's might.
She chose to ignore Su Xiangtian's shout of protest.
Ann Jieshan seized the moment, continuing to consume the alien souls.
Lee Yuangui from the Lee family unapologetically summoned the colossal Black Turtle, which joined in feasting on the numerous Aberrant Souls and Demon Spirits, bolstering the Black Turtle's strength.
Upon hearing the Soul Splitting Staff's artifact soul speak, both Ann Jieshan and Lee Yuangui made a prudent choice.
The cultivators from the Silvermoon Empire, much like Su Xiangtian, remained on the sidelines, watching the unfolding events.
The towering figure with a human head and dragon body hovered aloft, gazing down at Van Hen with an amused smirk.
"Go!"
Van Hen's hand suddenly gestured toward the Soulforge Pool.
The grand figure, clad in shimmering gold and clutching the golden ancient book, seemed to transform into a deity from antiquity, stepping toward the Soulforge Pool with an aura of divine majesty that was both transcendent and awe-inspiring.
A stream of golden script, like a luminous river, flowed into the pool first.
Van Hen's silhouette darted and settled midair above the Soulforge Pool. She looked down upon Yu Yuan, who sat still, embracing the forbidden area's boon to cleanse his marrow and refine his spirited body. "Kid, are you afraid?"
She was unaware that Yu Yuan was in the most critical phase of his cultivation.
Nor could she have known that the forbidden area was aiding Yu Yuan with Soul Power and the essence of sword's wil, enabling him to undergo a profound transformation.
Facing the spirited body of the Van family's ancestor, Yu Yuan finally felt fear.
"Mr. Van, I advise you against rash actions."
Yuan Lianyao, looking at her, gently shook her head. "Believe me, if you go through with this, your end will be no better than Fides's."
No one there understood the horrors that Yu Yuan represented in the forbidden area better than Yuan Lianyao, who had witnessed them several times.
"Ms. Yuan, Yu Yuan hails from your Asvetaesi, a place where he could be overtaken by an alien soul. Yet you defend him so staunchly," Van Hen sneered with a sinister laugh. "To me, it seems you, Ms. Yuan, are also quite suspect."
At that, the dry smile on Yuan Lianyao's face vanished.
"Mind your own business!"
With that, Van Hen formed a spell and commanded, "Fall!"
The golden-robed learned man, an ancestor of the Van family, transformed into a golden orb and plummeted.
Simultaneously, a sword's will burst forth from the sword scar on the pool wall.
Nearly a hundred dazzling sword lights emerged from the earth's fissures, converging on the golden-robed learned man as if they were endowed with ephemeral souls.
Upon closer inspection, it appeared as though streams of meteoric light rained from the ground's crevices.
"Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!"
The golden orb formed by the golden-robed learned man burst suddenly.
The nearly hundred sword lights, drawn by the sword's will, darted through the brilliant golden light.
The ephemeral form of the golden-robed scholar materialized and fragmented repeatedly.
Along with it, a certain moral code and the last vestiges of spiritual wisdom and intent from the golden-robed scholar were shattered.
The text in the golden ancient book Van Hen had extracted began to fade.
Until it vanished entirely.
Before long, the once golden tome turned an ordinary shade of yellow, stripped of its mystique.
The Van family's treasured relic, bestowed by an ancestor, was reduced to a mundane book by the sword lights, devoid of any divinity.
"Why bother?" Yuan Lianyao sighed softly.
"Chi!"
The sword lights coalesced with the sword's will, abruptly forming a broad blade as vast as a river.
The sword light cleaved through the air with sudden ferocity.
Van Hen's corporeal form, along with the three souls of heaven, earth, and man within her consciousness, were severed in a mere instant.
Shimmers of ghostly light burst forth from her body, drawn by an eerie force, and vanished against the walls of the Soulforge Pool in the blink of an eye.
The domineering old woman, who had sought to hold Yu Yuan accountable and had summoned the Van family's heirloom, met her end right there, clueless as to why.
Su Xiangtian had been watching the entire time. He had the impulse to reach out and assist her as the radiant sword made its decisive strike.
Regrettably, at the very moment he moved to act, he sensed a power emanating from the sword that sent shivers down his spine.
Moreover, he heard Lee Yuangui's words of caution echoing in his Heart Lake.
The venerable general of the Empire had warned him: those who bring misfortune upon themselves cannot live.
And so, he chose to remain a detached observer.
"I told you so. A mere Lunar Spirit daring to challenge the sovereign of the forbidden area?" The muscular figure with a human head atop a dragon's body bared a wide grin and laughed heartily, "Do you have any idea how many Lunar Spirits have been laid to rest in this realm? Spirits on their Spirit Walk, even the remains of Solar Spirits are strewn everywhere."
"Alien souls, Trolls, Aberrant Souls from beyond our domain—either they submit and are subdued, or they are refined."
"Here we stand, cautious and restrained, even after the departure of the ten. We tread lightly. Yet there are those who, despite all advice, are hell-bent on seeking their own demise."
"Now, at last, she is dead, and peace has been restored."
He watched the perimeter of the Soulforge Pool with an air of amusement, his gaze falling on Su Xiangtian and the surviving cultivators of the Silvermoon Empire.
Su Xiangtian lifted his head, silently meeting the burly man's gaze.
"Don't look at me," the man said evenly. "I'm waiting for this seal to lift, and then I'll be on my way. Having returned from the outer realms, I've reclaimed what I once lost. Though I exist merely as a soul, I can still survive for quite some time. Heh, as long as I avoid the clutches of those from Dragon Lake, I'll manage just fine."
The fragment of his soul that had been taken from the Moonfall Sanctuary was merely a residual soul. Upon his return, it became whole once again.
Initially, even in his complete state, he was still bound and suppressed by the Soulforge Matrix.
However, since Yu Yuan was a sword-bearer, and after the top ten alien souls had departed, Yu Yuan's will was able to subtly influence the matrix, enabling him to escape his bonds.
And he did so in his complete form.
He was convinced that Ann Jieshan, the artifact soul with the black and white Soul Splitting Staff, shared his aspirations.
To be whole, to be true to oneself, to shake off the shackles of the forbidden area and soar through the heavens and earth.
They were not like Fides; they harbored no urgent desire to open a spatial channel to invite the Star-Spawned Terror inside.
Deep down, though, they were indifferent to Fides' actions.
Should the Sky Fiend actually invade, the cultivators of Euwrea and the Land of Quiescence would be overwhelmed, leaving them unable to interfere with their affairs.
For him, for Ann Jieshan, and for the Wraith Ape, the future flourishing of humanity was irrelevant.
They lived solely for themselves.
"Crack!"
A sudden burst of thunder and lightning echoed from within the clouds.
The dense, gray expanse of the sky appeared to be slowly ripping apart.
"The Soulforge Matrix's suppression of the heavens and the earth seems to be coming to an end shortly!"
