"Sto--!" Lin Ming's thunderstruck mind hysterically screeched as time seemingly slowed down to his perception as Na Xinyi's flawless and illusory hand burrowed into his chest, grasping onto the Spirit Core that acted as his heart. Then, and only then, did he realize that Na Xinyi had expertly and deceptively lulled him into a sense of trust without ever speaking more than a single word to him.
How conniving was this? How vicious was this? The Archaic Chosen couldn't help but see the glint of the gaping hole he created that Na Xinyi sent Tang Xingyun through. Was she safe?
The image of that lovely face with a delightful smile on that typically calm, cool face brought him an unnerving feeling.
She had to be safe.
Please be safe.
While his thoughts had sped to an utterly incredible state, it did little to stop time itself. Na Xinyi's hand still pulled out his Spirit Core violently, infusing qualities of illusory form without substance and bringing it out without breaching any physical walls of Lin Ming's body. Her power was unfathomable!
"Ah..." Lin Ming stumbled vocally as he witnessed the beauty of his gleaming Spirit Core. The Divine Origin was tethered to it like spiritual wisps and tentacles protruding out, mysterious and unfathomable. With his Spirit Core taken out from him, he screamed as he fearfully expected a swift, dark- encroaching death to unfold soon after.
However!
After Na Xinyi took out the Spirit Core, she stared curiously at Lin Ming whose eyes were filled with regret, concern, and anger. She eyed him calmly, "Your Spirit Core isn't yours. No, that's not exactly right. You're not a true cultivator," Na Xinyi said thoughtfully as she excavated out the truths of Lin Ming's complex state.
"What?" Lin Ming was unable to comprehend what Na Xinyi was saying, but his mind was in a state of believing itself to be on the verge of death, so it was incomparably clear. Suddenly, he realized that while his Spirit Core was out of his chest, replacing his heart, he wasn't dying. How?
Besieged by this realization, he still couldn't determine what Na Xinyi was going on about.
Na Xinyi's beautiful brows furrowed slightly. "I see," she began as she turned her head to see Zuhei bathing in the impromptu death site of the one called Shulin by Lin Ming.
The claws and fangs of the Ascendant Emperor were undergoing a heaven-shaking transformation with each passing millisecond.
Na Xinyi lifted the Spirit Core to Lin Ming's eye level as she began to communicate with rapid speed, "Someone turned you into a Spirit Cauldron for their own means. Do you know what that means?"
Lin Ming was confused to a different level! Why was Na Xinyi speaking all these words to him for? She was after his Spirit Core, right? She got it! Why was this treacherous woman still here?!
Seeing his rampant confusion and swelling anger, Na Xinyi sighed in her heart. "It's fine if you don't know. Maybe that's better. Right now, you're a Spirit of Cultivation in human form. You won't die without this Spirit Core, similar to how an Astral Soul won't perish without their Astral Core. Haaa...I'm wasting words and time," Na Xinyi finally decided to stop here. It was unnecessary, but she was very well aware as to why she was even speaking any words-she, too, was a potential Cultivated Cauldron!
There were Yang Cauldrons, Yin Cauldrons, Spirit Cauldrons, Life Cauldrons, Body Cauldrons, and various types of mediums by which cultivators who delved into the Evil Methods of cultivation could generate, nurture, and seize. She was one of the few existences that possessed a top-tier, heaven-given body of a Yin Cauldron.
As for Spirit Cauldrons, it was an insidious method by which a cultivator beyond Mortal Limits infused a portion of their soul into a mortal's Spirit of Cultivation, slowly and stealthily infecting it with their soul's aura.
This could only be used by those with an Ascended Existential Framework to those with a Mortal Existential Framework, almost always of a similar, direct bloodline lineage and gender.
Eventually, the Spirit of Cultivation would be theirs, while the cauldron in question would have dedicated years of their life to cultivate this Spirit of Cultivation to their greatest potential limits. They wouldn't notice anything while doing so until the culprit in question decided to seize back their soul. This would siphon out every last bit of cultivation from the cauldron.
A lifetime lost in moments.
Wei Wuyin had mentioned this once before to her as she slyly brought up the rumors regarding his fiancée decades ago. She would never openly admit that she was a little jealous when she brought it up. While he eventually waved it away by saying he had squashed the situation, they discussed cauldrons for hours.
She had never thought that Lin Ming would be someone else's Spirit Cauldron. When she thought to this extent, she sighed to herself as she sealed the Spirit Core in a misty ward of yin light. The Divine Origin had her physique throbbing. If it was a real person, it would be salivating.
"NOOO! YOU BITC-"
Suddenly, as she turned around, a roar rippled across the void that abruptly ceased. Na Xinyi's grey eyes lit as she lifted her head to the sky. There was a strange entity sending their sense over through the connection with the Spirit Core. Na Xinyi had severed that exquisite connection and therefore had removed its ability to observe the situation.
Before she left, she turned to Lin Ming who was struggling to move. "Whoever that was, he was likely the one who schemed against you." After saying her piece, she began to fly away.
But Lin Ming's eyes emitted a strange light as he regained a trace of bodily control as his innate energies circulated naturally. Despite lacking a beating heart and a Spirit Core, he was still alive! He didn't have any signs of Cultivation Deviation either.
The earlier words from Na Xinyi rumbled in his mind. He was a humanoid Spirit of Cultivation? Spirit Cauldron? While he didn't fully grasp those concepts at the moment, he realized there was a sinister hand here. Seeing her graceful figure fly away, he gritted his teeth and roared:
"Divine King Han Xei will avenge me!"
Na Xinyi stopped for a moment, a peculiar glint flashed across her eyes. Then, she flew away. "You should run," were the last three words she said to Lin Ming.
HOWL!!!
Lin Ming felt his entire body quiver as a wave of unbearably intense fear swept through his mind. With his pupils constricting to their limits, he turned to see Zuhei moving slowly toward him, his scarlet gaze ferocious and savage as a wild predator inspecting its prey.
Step. Step. Step.
Meanwhile...
"It's time."
Tian Yinwu's words sent shivers down Tang Xingyun's spine. She panicked. "Wait!" She screamed with her hands held up as if she wanted to push him away. "You don't have to do this!" She tried to delve into the depths of her wellspring of intelligence and wit, seeking a path to life.
"You really don't understand, do you?" Tian Yinwu shook his head as he pointed two fingers outward, transforming them into a sword of golden light, vibrant and forceful. It was entirely different from his earlier casual attacks against Tian Yinwu or his adjusted attacks. This sword sliced into space, time, essence, energy, light, and gravity with unprecedented sharpness.
Sword Intent!
It was unrestrained yet indescribably forceful, like a tyrannical immortal's fallen sword.
"I-I don't!" Tang Xingyun tried anything, backing up slightly as she tapped into her Origin State's Mana Dominance. She wanted to fly away! "What will the world think if they know you killed me? Many saw you hunt me down! Your fiancée!!"
Unfortunately for the former Tang Clan's Saintess, Tian Yinwu was entirely unaffected by her desire to escape and for life.
"..." Her words also did nothing to move his heart. In truth, it only caused it to grow increasingly cold and unfeeling.
Throughout this entire time, Tang Xingyun had never once tried to take responsibility for her actions or how her actions could have reflected on him. She took no accountability for her actions, even as she faced death she brought up entirely irrelevant things, not a single apology in sight. Thinking about this, Tian Yinwu couldn't help but feel as if this woman who had been engaged with him since he was named the Seventh Prince at a young age never once cared about his image or feelings.
He couldn't help but realize that Ma Sujiang, Jiang Feilan, and San Yongli were a thousand times better than her. He was saddened by the fact his younger self thought that she was worthy enough for him to exhaust any thought, consideration, and effort for.
Even now, he was reluctant to perform the deed.
Unfortunately, he had to harden his heart. The Imperial Clan would never allow such a potential danger to their pride and name to exist. With her illicit act and attempt to conceal it, she didn't just insult him. In fact, if it was simply that, he could easily decide to leave her alone.
No, she spat on the faces of the entire Imperial Clan; she thought of them as stupid idiots that wouldn't know as she lied to their faces gleefully. That was no different than a death sentence. He knew that if he didn't do it, his Royal Father would likely out her as an adulterous woman, slaughter the Tang Clan to its last throughout the world, slaughter the True Element Sect as well, and torture her and her partner's soul for the remaining of their soulspan.
This was mercy.
Tian Yinwu's sword hummed softly, surging with power.
"No! Stop!" Tang Xingyun tried to back away.
Tian Yinwu's expression was indifferent. He lifted his hand. "LIN MING!" She cried out with a shrieking bellow.STAB!
Tian Yinwu's sword pierced into Tang Xingyun's chest. Blood sprayed out as a gushing wave. Her eyes bulged to their limits as she felt the sharp power rampantly ravage her insides, obliterating her heart, lungs, astral soul, and eyes. She felt her everything be cut into endless pieces. The pain was... unbearable! But that pain began to be overtaken by darkness as it reached her brain!
"It's over," Tian Yinwu calmly stated.
Suddenly-
KREE!!
BURST!
Tian Yinwu's brows furrowed as he remained unmoved. Tang Xingyun's dying body erupted into scarlet-golden flames. "Nirvanic Flames?" Tian Yinwu instantly noticed it as the flames of a Fire Phoenix.
Her body began to bum into ash.
"You're trying to leave like this? Did a Fire Phoenix mark you with a Genesis Blessing?" Tian Yinwu's guess was incomparably accurate. Bai Lin had marked each of the Tang Clan members! Unless she wanted them to die, they couldn't! While Genesis Blessings were typically reserved for Genesis Beasts who decided to pledge themselves to certain individuals, Bai Lin carelessly marked her servants.
Normally, this would have been impossible as the energy expenditure was tremendous for each one. But who was Wei Wuyin? If she needed to recover, he had a thousand and one ways to do it efficiently with the wealth to match!"I can't let you leave like this." Tian Yinwu calmly watched as he realized that the Fire Phoenix's Genesis Blessing was at the level of an Earthly Saint. He didn't have the power to interfere with the Nirvanic Process, but he could do something else.
Suddenly, he touched his glabella as an inch-sized sword manifested. It exuded a profound aura very similar to a soul!
"Go!" Tian Yinwu sent it forward into the burning corpse of Tang Xingyun's head. It sliced into it before the body became complete ash, scattering throughout this strange space as each particle vanished into the void.
A few seconds later, the sword returned along with a sharp light and smoothily entered his glabella as if returning home after a day's of hard work. Tian Yinwu's eyes immediately dimmed after. Clearly, he had exhausted a great degree of strength to unleash that sword!
KREE!!A sharp clarion cry resounded throughout the world. The rage within was horrifying! The space began to heat up as the spatial energies distorted and burned. Tian Yinwu sighed as he shook his head, feeling a little deflated. "I've left a wisp of her True Soul to you; she can be reborn as a new existence with your assistance. Consider our karma ended. But, if you want to seek revenge or compensation for any losses-you're free to do so."
A burst of mental energy pierced through the unique space, only carrying two words: "I will!"
It then vanished abruptly, and Tian Yinwu thoughtfully remained there for a few seconds. Then, he sighed exhaustedly in his heart. Tang Xingyun was dead; her consciousness, memories, and Spirit of Cultivation was all obliterated by his power. If she were to revive, she would be no different than a remnant soul without a her original conscious. At best, she could go through the elusive concept of reincarnation at great cost, becoming an entirely new existence.
Tian Yinwu soon departed, exiting out the strange space through the gaping hole Lin Ming created, and he was welcomed by a series of interesting sights.
"Gurgle!" The sounds of a fluid-filled throat desperately trying to speak resounded. The faint whimpers of a dying voice echoed through the stifled and still air.
Zuhei was clutching Lin Ming, holding onto him as he bit into his neck with those sharp, savage, and bloodthirsty fangs, biting ferociously.
"Plea...se...don...t...kil...kill me...." The Archaic Chosen, the once prideful existence that desired to climb to the peak of the cultivation with his spear, was begging for his life! His eyes were filled with streams of murky tears as they swam, seeking out any salvation.
Tian Yinwu coldly looked on. He turned his gaze toward Na Xinyi and Lin Ziyan, seeing her watching calmly for a minute. Then, when their gazes met, Na Xinyi did not react as she flew away. He watched as this beautiful, graceful, and incredible woman took her leave without carrying about anyone. A faint smile surfaced on his face, filled with interest to see more.
"Qiao...Shulin..." A soft, trembling voice came from a distance away, causing Tian Yinwu to spot Yi Yun's kneeling figure. He didn't know who this was, so he didn't care. Eventually, he decided to no longer stay any longer.
Zuhei's fangs were biting ferociously into Lin Ming, his first prey, and he wasn't absorbing blood as others might believe at first sight. No, he was extracting his soul!
No! It was better to say...
HE WAS CLAIMING HIS SOUL!
Zuhei's Seed of Law began to flourish into being, finding support from his Ancestral Awakening and leveraging the ongoing resonance with the Three Thousand Realms of the Heavens!
With his claws, he embedded them into the fleshy body of the Archaic Chosen. With a single clean, incomparably flawless movement, Lin Ming's body was ripped apart! A rain of spirit blood fell upon the silver wolf's howling form, drenching him from head to toe in white, spiritually glistening blood!
Savage!
Violent!
Fulfilled!
HOWL!
"CARNAGE!!!" As if it was a hymn from the bestial depths of hell itself, the word resounded as the world shook in fear, drenched in a bloody, violently red hue that dominated this stretch of space.
In a different space, a robed figure looked upward with silver eyes. "You've redeemed yourself well," the voice's tone was laced with a hint of pride and expectation, as if everything aligned perfectly with his plans.
A heavy, familiar voice resounded in the space, "The Everclash shall begin in ten minutes! Ready yourselves, Alchemists."
Author's Notes: This was the longest sub-arcs I've done with five chapters total. My original outline of this arc had A LOT to do. It was a little difficult to check them all off, but we did it! Thank you all for your patience. <3 RIP Lin Ming and Tang Xingyun. Albeit the latter survived, she will never appear again as she once was, very similar to what Wei Wuyin did to the Moonfall Lunar Queen. (Prays for her soul).
