C807 The Rotten Wood Cannot be Carved!
"Soulforge Pool!"
Aboard the Cloud Cruiser, members of the Skyreach Consortium and the Sword Sect, along with numerous visitors from the continent of Euwrea, including Ann Ziqing and even the eight ancient ghosts and the Pale Reaper, were all struck with terror.
Deep within the Chasuo Kingdom, malevolent spirits surged and wailed, as if ripping apart the souls of the living.
Initially, once the Crucible of Evil descended, Observers on the outside could not glimpse the events unfolding within the Chasuo Kingdom.
Just as they couldn't penetrate the black clouds unleashed by Qignas with their sight and remnant souls to witness the fierce battle among the three Ghost Kings, they also couldn't discern the details within the Chasuo Kingdom.
However, when the enigmatic Soulforge Pool, a name that trembled across three continents, emerged within the Chasuo Kingdom, the so-called Death Realm, crafted by the combined forces of Mo Yan and the Shadowblade, crumbled like paper in an instant.
Everyone saw with clarity that as soon as the Soulforge Pool appeared, the sky instantly brightened!
It was as though a world that had been obscured was, in a flash, unveiled, revealing its true face once more.
And yet, the Soulforge Pool wasn't the one that spanned the Endless Space, arriving from the Moonfall Sanctuary.
It was merely an ethereal form, a projection, that shattered the Chasuo Kingdom!
All Observers, with eyes and souls, were intently focused on the Soulforge Pool.
Even the Soul Battle between White Bone, Black Staff, and Taruer was momentarily set aside.
The Soulforge Pool, echoing through the Everlands, was shrouded in an aura of profound mystery.
Particularly as the Boulderdawn Sect drew near, the many sealed legends of the Moonfall Sanctuary were once again brought to light by those with vested interests.
Many of these legends were intertwined with the Soulforge Pool!
The Soulforge Pool, hovering thirty meters above Yu Yuan's head, shattered the Chasuo Kingdom in his gaze with a mere flicker.
When the bottom of the Soulforge Pool began to draw in the dark Soul Power...
Countless evil spirits, transformed by Mo Yan through the Shadowblade, were reduced to dust in an instant.
All that remained were the green glimmers, like fireflies, which were then mercilessly swallowed by the Soulforge Pool.
In the blink of an eye, the once dark, somber, and ghostly realm vanished without a trace.
The Soulforge Pool, materializing out of nowhere above Yu Yuan, gently spun, exuding a fearsome aura capable of overpowering Demon Gods, sealing ancient tyrants, and eradicating all intelligent life.
Not just Mo Yan, but even the eight ancient Spectres, locked in combat with Rahu, were filled with a profound sense of unease.
With a whoosh, Mo Yan commanded the Shadowblade, issuing an order to the Devil Blade without hesitation. He was desperate to flee the Land of Terror as fast as possible, sparing no effort!
It was clear to all that this Hellbreed, ranked among the top three in the Devil Palace, was in a state of panic and disarray.
Suddenly, a ripple in space-time emerged between the Soulforge Pool and the Devil Blade.
A mysterious space tunnel formed in an instant, bridging the Land of Terror and the Moonfall Sanctuary.
"Aooo!"
In his flight, Mo Yan heard the blade spirit's agonizing screams.
The black, serrated Devil Blade came to an abrupt halt mid-flight.
Invisible forces seemed to tug at the Death Chains connected to the hilt.
Seconds later, the infamous blade, known throughout the extraterrestrial Star River for its ability to warp gravity fields and spawn malevolent spirits, uncontrollably jerked towards the newly solidified space tunnel.
History has a way of repeating itself!
"Mo Yan!"
From within the thick black clouds, the piercing cry of Qignas, the Ghost King, resounded.
The Ghost King, who had collaborated with Taruer to ensnare White Bone, seemed to sense Mo Yan's impending doom. He knew that if Mo Yan were dragged into the Moonfall Sanctuary, his fate would likely be grim.
The Qignas's shriek, infused with a strange cadence, traveled through the Black Staff, reaching Mo Yan from afar.
Yu Yuan watched with a detached expression as Mo Yan and the Shadowblade were both pulled into the space tunnel.
His eyes narrowed as he sensed the true Soulforge Pool, suspended high above the Moonfall Sanctuary, despite the vast distance between them.
His spirit swelled and his soul stirred.
Even across the expanse of Endless Space, with the Root of the Lunar Meridian's seal released and covert assistance provided, his Lunar Spirit could connect unimpeded to the Soulforge Pool in the Moonfall Sanctuary.
The pool's walls bore numerous intersecting sword scars, their sword's will and force still potent.
Yet, through his newly refined Lunar Spirit and his acute understanding of the Moon Slayer sword spell, he sensed that the sword scars on the pool's walls could no longer contain the Soulforge Pool!
In its early days, the Soulforge Pool was crafted without a single sword scar, only an infinitely intricate Soul Nexus.
The Soulforge Pool served as the lynchpin of the Soulforge Matrix, a mechanism of the Boulderdawn sect designed to imprison the Star-Spawned Terrors within the Moonfall Sanctuary, preventing them from escaping. The sect's disciples would then use these fearsome creatures as prey to hone their skills, refining and absorbing them with various Spirit Magic techniques.
At that time, the Soulforge Pool was renowned and enigmatic, capturing the attention of the entire world with its notoriety and mystical nature!
Many years after the fall of the Boulderdawn Sect, which led to their exile into the extraterrestrial Star River, the Moonfall Sanctuary became a colossal prison, incarcerating the malevolent entities from both the Everlands and beyond. After several transformations, the Grand Sword Immortal of the Sword Sect, renowned for his unparalleled lethality, cleaved the extraterrestrial moon, causing a deluge of aerolites to descend and forge a new Moonfall Sanctuary. The Soulforge Pool, too, was marked by numerous sword scars and came under his dominion through the might of his sword.
But now...
The Soulforge Pool, having burst forth from the earth, hovered above the forbidden area. Amidst the turmoil of the Everlands, with innumerable Star-Spawned Terrors and the fierce battles waged by the Sunlit Order, the pool had amassed an oceanic expanse of Soul Power. This accumulation was leading the Soulforge Pool back to its pinnacle of power.
With sufficient reserves, the Soulforge Pool now used its Soul Power to suppress the sword scars!
What astonished Yu Yuan even more was that the Soulforge Pool, brimming with Soul Power, appeared to be transforming the entire Soulforge Matrix. It was evolving from a sixth-level array to a seventh-level array! Such a matrix was a hallmark of only the most elite sects, like the upper sects, Devil Palace, and Shadow's Keep, reputed to exert tremendous influence over cultivators of the primordial spirit and even the tenth-level Dark Deities.
"The Soulforge Pool, the Soulforge Pool..." Yu Yuan whispered to himself, his eyes alight with wonder as he perceived through his Lunar Spirit.
It was all very peculiar to him.
In the past, at the Moonfall Sanctuary, it was only after receiving a strand of sword spirit from a Moon Slayer cultivator that he was able to resonate with the Soulforge Matrix and wield the Soulforge Pool, commanding the grand array.
Back then, the sword scars and sword's will on the pool's edge were suppressing the Soulforge Pool, bending it to their will.
But now, the tables had turned.
The Soulforge Pool itself had rendered the sword scars and sword's will left by the Moon Slayer powerless to control it.
Yet, why did he, who possessed a sword spirit and was attuned to the sword scars and sword's will, still find favor with the Soulforge Pool?
He sensed that once the sword scars and the sword's will on the pool's walls were suppressed, his connection with the Soulforge Pool grew even more intimate!
This closeness made him feel as if the Soulforge Pool was jubilant, eagerly anticipating his presence.
"Could it be because I've been practicing Wraithbinding and Soul Forging through Enlightenment? The Soulforge Pool was originally crafted by the Boulderdawn, and the Spirit Magic I've been cultivating comes from them too. Is that the connection?"
He was utterly baffled.
"Oh my god!"
All of a sudden, Golden Fiend aboard the Cloud Cruiser lost his composure.
Yu Yuan felt a sharp pain in his head, and blood spurted from the corner of his eye.
A slender, fair hand emerged silently in the vibrant space tunnel leading to the Moonfall Sanctuary.
The hand's every finger movement and the lines on its palm seemed to be in perfect harmony with the Cosmic Order.
That same hand gently grasped the Shadowblade, halting its momentum towards the Moonfall Sanctuary instantly.
Inside the space tunnel, cascades of light struck the hand like bolts of lightning.
Yet the hand remained still, unaffected by the chaotic forces of spatial turbulence and the ever-disordered psionic power.
The fingers relaxed slightly, then tightened around the Devil Blade, and a mass of dark light swiftly coalesced.
"Rotten wood cannot be carved."
A sigh emanated from the center of the hand.
The next instant, the hand plunged into the space tunnel, and the dark light vanished.
The mass of darkness shrank to the size of a grain of black rice and then disappeared in a blink.
At that moment, countless eyes were fixed on the space tunnel, watching the point of darkness flicker out. After Golden Fiend's initial cry of alarm, silence fell over everyone.
The silence was absolute.
Yu Yuan, too, was unusually quiet, not uttering a single word.
As the hand appeared, everyone sensed a challenge to the Cosmic Order of the region.
A tumultuous and intense collision of different rules and mysteries occurred within the same space.
A sense of terror gripped everyone, feeling as though they were sinking into an unseen, twisted space below.
Even their souls seemed to be falling into the depths of their own Mindscape.
Nearby, myriad weak ghosts and spirits swarmed around the black cloud, plummeting to the earth like raindrops.
The Rahu Ghost King and eight ancient ghosts fell from the void.
Boom!
A majestic palace plummeted from the sky, crashing to the ground with a thunderous impact.
Even the three Ghost Kings within the dark cloud plummeted to the earth in an instant.
Only a cultivator with a primordial spirit that has reached the profound truths of the Heavenly Dao could cause such an extraordinary event!
This was the peculiar magnetic field formed by the interaction between the Way of Heaven of the cultivator and that of the Land of Terror.
Once the hand manifested in this realm, it seemed to decree that no person or object could surpass it in the heavens!
The identity of the hand's owner was clear.
"After all, he is my own flesh and blood."
After a moment, Cao Jiaze gazed deeply at the space tunnel, where the black speck had vanished, and let out a knowing smile.
"The second-in-command of the Devil Palace, the great cultivator of the primordial spirit, Zhu Zhenlin!"
