C339 The Sword Soul Awakened!
After lying dormant for over a year, so long that he thought it had ceased to exist, the sword soul that had merged with the walls of the Soul Transformation Pool finally awoke with full vigor!
It was the birth of soul consciousness that confirmed for Yu Yuan the sword soul's persistence!
With the sword soul present, the myriad interwoven beams of sword light, along with the ancient, vast, and mighty sword intent and spell, were imbued with spirit!
And with spirit, the sword spell could exert its utmost might!
Swoosh swoosh!
The sword light on his arm, coursing with crimson lightning, suddenly accelerated by more than tenfold!
Yu Yuan could clearly see that in a flash, his arm's interwoven sword light birthed tens of millions of fine crimson beams!
The sword beams, like a school of ravenous fish, jostled and surged forward, racing from his veins towards the center of his palm.
The ethereal blue frost encasing his wrist shattered abruptly into glinting shards.
The crimson sword light enveloped his arm like a dense storm of electricity!
His wrist, previously numb and devoid of sensation due to the Frost Energy of the Dark Domain's Asura, was now ablaze with heat.
Sensation flooded back in an instant!
More crimson sword beams, innumerable and densely packed, tore through with unstoppable force, gathering the residual spatial abilities within his flesh and veins and fusing them into strands of refined, piercing sword intent.
Like an unstoppable force, the crimson beams charged toward his palm!
His palm appeared as if clad in a pair of heavy, dark blue ice crystal gloves, the biting coldness clear and pristine, the very essence of the Frost Energy concentrated within the eyes of the Dark Domain's Asura.
Crack!
The sound of the ice shattering emanated from his palm.
A dazzling crimson orb of light, as if held within his grasp, was the culmination of the fearsome essence of sword light.
In Yu Yuan's hand, the orb felt like a massive hedgehog crafted from countless sharp Divine Swords, their tips pointing outward, their hilts converging to a single point.
This crimson sword light "hedgehog" sent shivers through his Heavenly Soul.
He had an inkling that if this orb of sword light struck a cultivator at the Soul Wandering Stage, or even a Yang God, it could obliterate their three souls in the blink of an eye.
With this thought, a divine brilliance too splendid for words burst forth from his palm, radiant as an exploding sun!
The sword intent that could shatter space and obliterate stars could no longer be hidden or suppressed!
Boom!
The thick dark blue ice encasing his palm shattered into innumerable specks of light, scattering across the hard ground and boring deep holes.
The Dark Asura, previously in control, was thrown into disarray by the burst of sword light from Yu Yuan's hand, the dark blue malevolence from the brown eyeball scattering.
In that moment, the persistent chill gnawing at Yu Yuan's mind, tormenting his three souls with icy pain, quietly receded.
The strands of coldness, imbued with the lingering thoughts of the Dark Asura's soul, became alert and uneasy from the destruction of the dark blue ice, fleeing in fear.
They escaped into the brown eyeball within the platinum skull.
As the sword soul awoke, sending forth a soul message, Yu Yuan's heart swelled with joy, his spirit buoyed. The dire situation, where he was on the brink of exploding and perishing, was reversed.
In the blink of an eye, the sword soul reclaimed dominance, seizing the initiative.
When Yu Yuan opened his eyes again, not a single fragment of dark blue ice remained on his palm or forearm. All he saw were strands of dark blue malevolent energy, retreating like the tide toward the brown eyeball.
The Asura from the Dark Domain, its soul still intact, quickly changed tactics upon sensing danger.
It withdrew into its own private cosmos, drawing upon the vast spiritual energy it had consumed over millennia, and with the secret techniques of the Asura, it resisted the lingering sword intent of its nemesis.
"Yu Yuan!"
"Yu Yuan!"
Yan Qiling and Xu Zixi called out in elation.
Engaged in fierce combat, unable to extricate themselves from Bai Shang and the white-haired crone, they had been deeply concerned for Yu Yuan, fearing he wouldn't withstand the onslaught, that his soul and body would shatter.
Before the battle, Yan Qiling had sent a message to Yu Zhu, hinting at the urgency.
Yu Zhu lived up to the expectations, soaring to the floating island. He sacrificed the dragon blood he had meticulously refined, blending it with his own lifeblood, and infused the potent Bai Shuang blood into Yu Yuan's arm, pulling him back from the brink of death.
Yu Yuan, through sheer resilience, had weathered the storm.
Having overcome the challenge, the sword soul was now fully awakened – the bitter struggle had finally given way to sweet triumph!
With a whoosh, a figure was violently ejected from the floating island overhead, tumbling through a shower of blood and starlight.
Yu Yuan glanced upwards and immediately recognized the expelled individual as Lau Ying from the Silver Moon Sect, his surprise audible in a soft "Huh."
Even after the malicious soul thoughts of the Asura had retreated from his consciousness, Yu Yuan could still spare a moment to reach out to Yu Zhu on the floating island, inquiring about the recent events. The island was Yu Zhu's creation; she was its sovereign. Why then, had she turned against Lau Ying? Had Lau Ying, in her arrogance as a disciple of the Silver Moon Sect, overstepped her bounds and provoked Yu Zhu for the benefit of the seven great sects?
The thought barely formed before Yu Yuan's soul connected with Yu Zhu's. Amplified by the Soul Forging Technique, his perception sharpened, and a tendril of thought latched onto Yu Zhu.
In a flash, he grasped the full picture. It was Van Yan who had sent Lau Ying flying. Van Yan, who had stealthily ascended the floating island, was relentlessly swinging an eight-edged hammer, striking Yu Zhu's skull repeatedly.
Even now, as Yu Zhu was engaged in the taxing process of refining the potent blood of the Silverfrost Dragon, Van Yan continued his assault. Yu Yuan's awareness captured the sight of the massive hammer, heavy as a millstone, crashing down on Yu Zhu's head, splintering her skull, which was as tough as dark iron.
Green, tainted blood streamed down Yu Zhu's face, her forehead, and neck, painting a picture of harrowing agony.
"Van Yan!" Yu Yuan bellowed, his voice rising from the pit below like the roar of a bloodthirsty beast.
Clarity dawned on him in that moment. If not for Yu Zhu's selfless defense, repeatedly sacrificing her own cultivation to protect him, she would never have been so vulnerable to Van Yan's attacks. It was for his sake that Yu Zhu had remained vigilant, enduring attack after attack without a moment's respite to retaliate.
Already gravely wounded, Yu Zhu had been subjected to Van Yan's brutal onslaught, and the peculiar properties of the octagonal hammer seemed to specifically counter her abilities. Ultimately, she lay defeated in a pool of her own blood.
Liu Ying, outclassed by an entire realm, had fought valiantly to assist, only to be blasted away by Fan Yan.
"Yu Yuan! She, she..."
Like a meteor plummeting to earth, Liu Ying, cloaked in a shroud of starlight, spoke to Yu Yuan with a frail voice, "Because of you, she's been gravely injured. She couldn't afford to stop, not even for a second, which is why she's been relentlessly pummeled by that person."
"Please, think of something—save her!"
Her Fallen Star Eyes cascaded down like a celestial waterfall, aiding her in anchoring her wounds.
Van Yan, from his perch on the floating island, paid her no mind, his sole intent set on slaying Yu Zhu.
In the meantime, Xu Zixi was losing ground in her battle against the white-haired crone. Her seven pythons, squirming through the void, were visibly struggling.
Within the pythons, a multitude of slender white snakes feasted on their vital essence, growing stronger by the minute.
Xu Zixi and her seven pythons shared a bond, feeling each other's pain.
As she sustained injuries, she brandished her jade flute, casting a skyful of dazzling light, clashing incessantly with the old woman's White Bone Crutch in a fierce melee.
Yan Qiling's confrontation with Bai Shang had taken a turn after Bai Shang had slain Wang Jinlin and seized the Nether Gold Divine Sword.
The White-robed Imperial Advisor, Zhou Cangmin, had vanished without a trace upon entering the purple silk ribbon.
The other practitioners from the Silvermoon Empire, who had tumbled from the Cloud Sail, were now frantically evading the pursuit of Lih Baixiong's Tusk Troops, too preoccupied with their own survival to concern themselves with others.
"I..."
As the crimson sword light bore down on the brown eyeball, Yu Yuan, cornered and desperate, attempted to commune with his sword soul, sending forth his urgent plea.
He was determined—Van Yan must die!
