C203 Teach Them a Lesson

Yu Yuan's Mindscape teemed with venomous creatures such as lizards, snakes, scorpions, and spiders, all of which were being sliced into a bloody, indistinct mess by a small, radiant sword.

These venomous creatures were, in fact, runes created from spirit imprints, brought to life by the Dark Spirit Hex. They could be considered a unique type of alien soul.

For any cultivator who had not attained the Subtlety Realm, the intrusion of an alien soul into their Mindscape could spell disaster. Prior to reaching Subtlety, one's spiritual sense is not fully formed, rendering them incapable of detecting anomalies within their Mindscape, let alone observing the movements of venomous creatures and alien souls within it.

From the moment Yu Yuan began practicing Soul Forging through Enlightenment, he embarked on a path distinct from that of other cultivators. Below the Subtlety Realm, his heaven soul was incredibly refined and powerful.

Nourished by the Soulforge Pool and purified by the sword spirit, his heaven soul, while not as tangible as the Solar Spirit, possessed many profound mysteries within his Mindscape. It could, for instance, transform into a razor-sharp sword.

"Shiit!" The diminutive, luminous sword danced within the Mindscape. Sword light wove through the space, with beams and the will of the sword intertwining like a dazzling river of light, brimming with boundless celestial authority.

The alien souls, which were the spectral forms of the venomous insects, were obliterated, almost instantly reduced to ethereal wisps of smoke.

Each venomous insect was a physical representation of the Dark Spirit Hex, precisely a rune etched with the spirit of the insect. Yu Yuan's profound understanding of the "Ghoul Glyph" meant he had specific countermeasures at his disposal.

Once a Ghoul Glyph entered his Mindscape and encountered his heaven soul's sword light, it was as if it had met its nemesis. The Ghoul Glyphs swiftly dissipated into smoke.

A thousand miles away, within a hollow tree, Chou Wan of the Binders of Shadows let out a harrowing scream, her face smeared with blood. This blood was from the Ghoul Glyphs that had been inscribed on her face, now unraveling into bloody trails.

Her features twisted into an extreme grimace as she clutched her head, wailing loudly. Meanwhile, the Dawn Arrow continued to hiss as it burned.

A wisp of Yu Yuan's consciousness, branded within, was ignited, causing the Dawn Arrow to burn even more fiercely. This also brought Qin Yun's Lunar Spirit to the brink of extinction, with his soul suffering a severe blow to its vitality.

Each Dawn Arrow was intimately linked to Qin Yun's life force. Their ignition inflicted massive damage upon his Lunar Spirit.

Qin Yun, appearing as an old scholar, was bound by three bolts of lightning. He felt the repercussions of the Dawn Arrow's backlash, which filled his heart with sorrow. Yet, upon seeing Chou Wan of the Binders of Shadows in even greater agony than himself, a sense of satisfaction surged within him.

"Good! I never expected Yu Yuan to be able to inflict harm on her from thousands of miles away!"

Qin Yun increasingly believed that Yu Yuan, having reemerged in the Moonfall Sanctuary, had grown even more enigmatic and formidable.

Chou Wan of the Binders of Shadows had cast the Dark Spirit Hex, using his Dawn Arrow as a catalyst. Yet, she had failed to grievously wound Yu Yuan or force him to come to her submissively.

"Ah! Ahhh!" Chou Wan, disheveled and with a ghastly expression, clawed at her neck and arms, leaving trails of blood. "Yu Yuan is merely at the Soul Awakening Realm, isn't he? At that level, one cannot condense their spiritual sense, nor have any remnant soul to utilize. How could he possibly retaliate against me?"

"Wuwu! My carefully crafted Dark Spirit Hexes! My Ghoul Glyphs!"

"Puff! Puff!"

Within the burning Dawn Arrow, it seemed as though wisps of venomous insect spirit souls burst like balloons.

Chou Wan's form shook, her nostrils bleeding a greenish hue as she collapsed to the ground. Curled up, her body continued to tremble, her vitality severely drained.

The Ghoul Glyphs she had crafted shared a mysterious resonance with Qin Yun's Dawn Arrow, echoing with her own soul and vitality. The combustion and explosion of the Ghoul Glyphs reverberated back to her in an instant, resulting in severe injuries.

She was at a loss to comprehend how Yu Yuan, a mere cultivator at the Soul Awakening Realm, could wield his heaven soul as a sword within her Mindscape, slaying her secretly placed Ghoul Glyph and shattering the Dark Spirit Hex.

The Dawn Arrow, ablaze and surging with power, shot suddenly towards Qin Yun.

Qin Yun's face turned pale.

But in the next instant, he was overcome with surprise.

The Dawn Arrow, on the verge of burning out, transformed into a stream of fire and struck the three golden lightning bolts that bound him.

These golden lightning bolts, once in sync with Chou Wan's mind, would remain indestructible as long as Chou Wan's Lunar Spirit supplied them with power.

However, Chou Wan was now in excruciating pain and could not attend to anything else.

The burning Dawn Arrow, with the last of its strength and carrying a portion of the Ghoul Glyph's power, hit the golden lightning bolts, causing them to dissipate into a sky full of electric arcs.

Qin Yun's Lunar Spirit, in the guise of an old scholar, suddenly broke free.

Whoosh!

The Lunar Spirit flowed like a stream into his crown and settled into his mud pellet acupoint.

Qin Yun, who appeared youthful, suddenly inflated as if filled with air.

With a sweep of his sleeve, the remaining three Dawn Arrows vanished.

Qin Yun, with only a fraction of his peak powers, looked grimly at Chou Wan, who lay curled up on the ground, shivering and covered in blood, and said, "The Binders of Shadows are formidable, and I acknowledge my inability to withstand them. I will report this incident to the Sunfire Emperor and notify the state preceptor. You of the Binders of Shadows should tread carefully within the borders of the Crimson Sun Empire."

With those words, Qin Yun ascended above the tree hollow and stepped into the expanse of the world.

Despite Chou Wan's grave injuries, he refrained from delivering a fatal blow, unwilling to let her die there.

With the Binders of Shadows behind her, and two other Lunar Spirit experts who had previously attacked him, if Chou Wan were to be killed by his hand, the Binders of Shadows would not let the matter rest.

Even the Sunfire Emperor might struggle to protect him and the Midnightshields.

Thus, despite his deep-seated grievances, he suppressed them.

"That Yu Yuan is recklessly bold. Does he not realize Chou Wan's influence?" Qin Yun wondered internally. "He's merely a young lord of the Yu family in Asvetaesi. How could he afford to provoke the Binders of Shadows? If any elder from their ranks were to visit Asvetaesi, the Yu family would face annihilation!"

With this thought in mind, he identified a direction and made his way toward Yu Yuan.

He had many things to clarify with Yu Yuan.

He also harbored the hope that Yu Yuan would recall the other three Dawn Arrows and lift their enchantment.

...

"Hmm?"

Yu Yuan, who had fallen silent once more, felt invigorated, his mind crystal clear.

Gazing into the vast expanse of the starry sky, the stars seemed to sharpen in clarity.

He could even make out the faint outlines and general shapes of several stars.

This indicated that his vision had extended, allowing him to see further and in greater detail.

The Ghoul Glyph, cast upon him by a Lunar Spirit from the Binders of Shadows, had been vanquished, and the resulting wisp of smoke had not dissipated into the air.

Instead, it had vanished within his body, into his Mindscape.

It seemed to have fortified his heaven soul and nourished both his earthly soul and original soul.

He sensed a benefit to his spirit, yet he remained somewhat uncertain.

"Soul Forging through Enlightenment."

Settling down, he submerged himself in a melancholic state, his heaven soul twinkling like a bright star within his Mindscape.

Suddenly, he felt a mysterious connection to a deep place within the Moonfall Sanctuary.

He was taken aback.

The White Paper Fan, engraved with "To Know All is to Suffer All," was nowhere to be found.

The four archaic black characters had transformed into four black suns, eternally suppressing the spatial passage that led to extraterrestrial realms.

He had assumed that continuing his practice of Soul Forging through Enlightenment would be challenging, but to his surprise, once he delved into the sorrow, the profound truth revealed itself, allowing him to perceive that enigmatic space with his heaven soul.

Thus, he could persist in his cultivation of Soul Forging through Enlightenment, further empowering his heaven soul!

"What if I completely leave the forbidden area and venture outside?"

This thought spurred Yu Yuan to his feet, and he decisively passed through the gateway of the forbidden area into the Crimson Sun Empire.

"Yu!"

Qin Yun's faint remnant soul reached out with the last three Dawn Arrows, "Don't return to Asvetaesi, don't go back to the Silvermoon Empire. Join me in heading to the Midnightshields!"

"Why?" Yu Yuan's Heart Lake stirred.

"Your country likely won't welcome you, and your Yu family could suffer consequences because of you!"

...