As Xue Yifei left to confront those from the World Beyond with Ernu, the two Saintesses of their era-defining generation-the Extreme Yin Saintess and Eternal Monarch Saintess-dashed valiantly toward the allied Ascendants with weapons firmly in hand through the air. They swiftly met hardy resistance in the form of various races of demons, elves, humans, beastmen, and hybrids with them intermixed.
Wu Baozhai unleashed her Imperial Heaven Aura, her presence suppressing the world with an unrivaled air, granting her the appearance of a Goddess of War. She brandished her halberd with precision and might that could send demons scattering and ghosts fleeing.
Na Xinyi gracefully swung her two fingers that formed the Sword of Yin, affecting the profound cyclic principles of dark yin and bright yang. The elegance in her movement was delicate yet unfathomably tyrannical, alongside her beauty, those observing were lost in her figure as she performed a sword dance.
Within a single breath, several regions were swept into unimaginable chaos as a myriad of incredibly refined and reinforced forces clashed. The very next breath, dozens upon dozens of Solar Stars of various sizes decorated the skies in a colorful array of mind-shocking variety. A breath later-
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! BAM!!Two exceptional figures, one valiant and imposing, the other elegant and domineering, slammed against each other like comets of radiance. Na Xinyi and Wu Baozhai! They stood back-to-back, their weapons trembling as they shook with various invasive forces.
A storm of myriad power rushed towards them from both sides. They both wielded their weapons with subtle breaths and terrifying wills, slicing their weapons outwards to sever the storm in two and then they both conjured Astral Wards to guard against the ensuing shockwave. Their Astral Wards strangely formed a beautiful image as one was as gorgeous as the starry skies and the other was a misty, enchantingly grey yin light. They similarly reinforced each other. It was obvious that the two had fought together more than once.
"..." They spun in place, sending out palms of starforce, dispersing the follow-up attack unleashed by the Ascendants. Their coordination was impeccable.
Wu Baozhai had a faintly singed left sleeve from a fire-type Spiritual Art empowered by a titan-sized Solar Star while Na Xinyi was physically untouched, but her breathing was very slightly labored after fully taking an insidious Spiritual Spell. Both of their eyes were endlessly bright, yet the forces of the Ascendants were not simple at all!
"I'm starting to understand why those from beyond our world cursed us often," Wu Baozhai smilingly remarked as she spun her halberd in a rapid whirl, forming a defensive art that deflected an entire flood of attacks. Her actions caused their first attack to meet their second onslaught, thereby reducing the expenditure of energy on her own. Her art was brilliantly performed and the ease at which she executed it caused the Ascendants to marvel from afar, but they didn't relent as rampant killing intent roared into the sky.
"He was never one to half-ass anything," Na Xinyi smirked as she swung her Sword of Yin, forming a curtain of milky grey that took all the attacks. The more starforce that entered, strangely enough, the thicker it became as it seemed to contort yin and yang, absorbing the yang, and accepting the yin, growing stronger by the millisecond.
There were hundreds of Ascendants, each with differing tactics and forces, all assaulting them from various, tricky angles with a degree of coordination that left the two of them a little dizzy.
They tilted their bodies slightly, the soles of their feet pressed against each other, and with a mutual push, they jetted forward toward opposing sides. They no longer relied on the other, facing the Ascendants with their own power.
Wu Baozhai didn't summon her World-Bound Star Domain, but she didn't simply use her Imperial Heaven Aura and Imperial Pressure formed by the 1st Grand Transformation to face the Ascendants. With a cold-sounding harrumph, her will gained an additional, profound property. With a burst of aura, an Intent surged into the world!
"Beware! World Heart Intent!" A particularly talented sensor among the Ascendants warned everyone ahead of time, immediately allowing them to go on guard as they all unleashed their own Awakened Intent! Suddenly, hundreds of Awakened Intents flourished in the air, colliding with the ambient mana, and trying to contest for control!
Their tactics sent those watching into a jaw-dropping expression. The Ascendants were extremely adept at handling World Heart Intent! Even if they didn't have it. The sight left them utterly speechless.
Wu Baozhai wasn't taken aback by their response, continuing to unfurl her World Heart Intent! A silvery, metallic light soon began to permeate into the world, slowly converting the ambient energies, essence, and mana into hers to control. But the Ascendants had already deployed their countermeasures, instantly seizing about ninety percent of the world's immediate ambient forces. While they couldn't use it, neither could Wu Baozhai!
Colorful lights of hundreds of Awakened Intent manifested in the surroundings, distorting the world entirely.
However, Wu Baozhai allowed her Metal Heart Intent to go to its utter limits, and her body exuded a metallic light that faintly resembled divinely soulful light. It seemed to contain every metal in existence, precious and ordinary, rare and common, shiny and dull.
Omni-Alloy Metal!
"IT'S APEX!" The sensor was absurdly swift at identifying the origins of her intent as he hurriedly rallied his findings. Instantly, Zen's descendant and a few others came forth, they exuded distinct Star Core Phase cultivation bases, and they roared as they unleashed their World Heart Intent!
Seven figures unleashed their World Heart Intent and they instantly caused the entire world to enter a conflict of the highest order. The fight changed the battlefield as the others resisted with their own Intent, trying to aid the seven others.
However, Wu Baozhai's Metal Heart Intent was not ordinary, empowered by the Imperial Heaven Aura and further reinforced by the 1st Grand Transformation's Imperial Pressure, her will bore heavily on their own as she resembled a Grand Monarch seizing the lands. But they couldn't allow her to succeed in claiming the world's ambient forces!
While this was happening, Na Xinyi was fighting against fifteen Ascendants, with only three Starlords among them, the rest were Timelords, their World-Bound Star Domains providing them incredible power and nearly boundless energy, but she took them on without losing out. They tried combining Spiritual Spells and Spiritual Arts to take down Na Xinyi like they had Bei Yunhan and Zu Zun, but Na Xinyi's spirit was unshakeable.
In fact, the only threat was currently split into two, their head and body falling from the skies in two different directions. That was a Spiritual Cultivator that had unleashed that insidious spell earlier, causing her some initial surprise, but she hunted her down at all costs. With her current Spiritual Strength, she couldn't be shaken otherwise even if she stood still and let them unleash their disrupting or offensive spells. The benefits of refining the Spirit Core were indescribably glorious!
Na Xinyi fought with an unrestrained air about her, elegant, domineering, and extremely forceful, drawing charmed gazes to her. Most of their attacks were dispelled by her unique Extreme Yin Force, but after they deduced ways to combat it, they couldn't muster a strong enough offensive to breach her defenses or lock her down. They tried to organize their forces to better find counters, but Na Xinyi wasn't going to let them breathe enough for that!
Within a blink of an Ascended's eye, she took down two Timelords with a flourish of her Sword of Yin. They were severed from head to groin. Soon, three lights flashed as their bodies disappeared after the Mark of Ascendants activated. After verifying their deaths, Na Xinyi calmly fought as she paid some attention to Wu Baozhai.
"So she did birth a World Heart Intent from the Obelisk," Na Xinyi remarked as she saw the near-divine light surge out of Wu Baozhai's body. Soul Light! Moreover, she had Metal Heart Intent. While Wei Wuyin could assist one in cultivating the former, the latter was heavily based on their own comprehension ability.
Wu Baozhai was unleashing her Soul Light, but which of the Seven Starlord-level Ascendants didn't have Soul Light? They, too, unleashed their own! The soulful brilliance caused the spectators to cover their eyes, and for those who forcefully watched, tears streamed down their faces as they were stunned into a blank expression.
Wu Baozhai, however, wasn't done! The Ascendants weren't ordinary, but she was beyond extraordinary! A tyrannical will began to permeate throughout the world...
BOOSH!!!
She released a heaven-piercing intent! Spear Heart Intent! This was the same power that Wu Yu had birthed! Like ancestor, like descendant! Her halberd's tip exuded a terrifyingly powerful light that caused the souls of those watching to quiver intensely, as if it was threatening to pierce through the layers of heaven itself, entering the endless starry skies, and seeking to conquer all beyond it.
"Two World Heart Intents! Execute Will-Disruption Spells!" The sensor called out as they subtly took the position of Commander. The other Ascendants were fully trained to respond to lethal dangers and they didn't hesitate to follow directions with their temporary alliance. They all began to jointly unleash Will-Disruption Spiritual Spells, straining themselves thin as they did, having to push forth their Soul Light, Awakened Intent, or World Heart Intent, alongside executing spells.
A few tried to take their chance to violently rush Wu Baozhai, breaking off to unleash devastating Spiritual Arts that could engulf tiny-sized planets, but the dual wills of the world immediately caught them lacking as they were crushed by the pressure of the ambient energies, essences, and mana seized by Baozhai. They became occupied as they fought for their lives against the world.
A Timelord didn't last long, swept up and obliterated in an instant.
Just ten percent was enough to do this!
This world was incredibly powerful and the energies, essence, mana, gravity, and light were all at the Mystic-level, and Wu Baozhai was capable of controlling these forces with her World Heart Intent! They didn't question this as a few of them, those at the Starlord-level, could do the same as mere mortals but the extent of it was quite unnatural. The Imperial Heaven Aura greatly assisted her in fully controlling its ambient, terrifying forces!
By this point, the two World Heart Intents of Wu Baozhai had seized over twenty percent of the world's strength. But the Ascendants were now caught between a rock and a hard place. If they let go of their contentious actions of seizing the world's forces, they could unleash Spiritual Arts and properly fight. If they didn't let go, they would be stuck in this stalemate as Wu Baozhai used ambient power to systematically eliminate them like a Grand Monarch commanding her soldiers to slay paralyzed foes.
But if they did let go, Wu Baozhai would have the power of the world at her fingertips, greatly increasing the difficulty of dealing with her!
They were stuck!
However, their choice mattered not, and Wu Baozhai hadn't stopped as another will began to manifest from her, exuding an incomparably sharp will!
"THREE?!" The sensor was shaken to their core. They didn't hesitate to execute a few hand-seals. With a flurry of watery light, they melded with the ambient moisture and dissipated into vapor. Gone! Fled! Vanished!
SWORD HEART INTENT!
From the crescent blade of her halberd, a will to slice against the heavens no less inferior to its will to pierce began to surge violently. Murderous intent rampantly flared with an oppressive presence! Wu Baozhai, the Eternal Monarch Saintess, had three World Heart Intents!
Na Xinyi dealt with another Timelord as she looked at this woman with a tinge of shock across her expression. She comprehended three World Heart Intents?!
Wu Baozhai immediately exerted the full strength of her will, instantly seizing half the immediate surroundings' ambient strength. She didn't hesitate to enter a throwing position as she tossed her halberd like a missile! It jetted across the sky like a divine comet enveloped in soulful radiance and Imperial Heaven Force.
Tens of thousands of miles away, the icy moisture within a glacial region gathered into a single figure. The sensor reformed!
"What a monster! Well, she was a-" Before the next syllable left their lips, a halberd nailed them to a nearby frozen mountain with a heavy stab. The person couldn't even react before the Mark of Ascendant activated, bringing their corpse away.
Wu Baozhai held out her hand, and forcefully ordered: "Return!" As she did, the halberd left the icy mountain and caused it to collapse entirely.
"You made this harder than it needed to be," she calmly remarked as the halberd emerged in her hands with a thunderous snap. If the sensor hadn't even a warning, she could have seized the absolute advantage with two World Heart Intents. Due to them, she was forced to reveal a trump card of hers.
Zen's descendant was struggling as the three World Heart Intents, each no less inferior to an Apex Intent, crashed against her body. If she didn't have her World-Bound Star Domain currently alleviating its aggressive effects, she would have already been dealt with by the surging forces from the World. The others were also in distress.
While forming a World Heart Intent wasn't too abnormal for Ascendants, Apex-level Intents were rare no matter what. Even though she hadn't formed an Apex-level Intent, only a high-level Intent, the differences between the two were like the earth and the sky. She gritted her teeth as she pondered a strategic retreat.
But Wu Baozhai wasn't that merciful. "None of you will leave here alive." Her tone was unquestionable.
"Then," Zen's descendant glared at Wu Baozhai, her will forged by the Ascendant's training and her own confidence remained strong, showcasing a trace of Wei Wuyin's Heart of Cultivation to never surrender even in the face of Hell itself, "We'll kill you instead!"
BOOM!!! Auras unfurled to their extreme limits!
Her words ignited the others' unyielding will. The fight was only just beginning!
"You'll try," Wu Baozhai's killing intent was glacial and tangible, causing her imperialistic aura to wreathe violently with a suppressive force. She rushed toward them with her halberd in hand!
Na Xinyi was having a much easier time as her abilities were incredibly profound and difficult to deal with while Wu Baozhai was far more direct, seeking to overpower with absolute strength and an invincible presence. The others genuinely couldn't deal with her despite their efforts.
She was simply that difficult to deal with as she could unravel attacks and absorb their strength. What type of bullshit was that?!
She picked them off one by one as they tried to fight back. They resorted to using their World Heart Intents and Awakened Intents, including the great power of their World-Bound Solar Star. Unfortunately, even the light, whether its origins were yin or yang-centric, only served to bolster Na Xinyi's strength. Even without her own World Heart Intent, Na Xinyi converted the world's strength into hers, whether they seized it or not.
Unrestrained goddess!
She moved like the wind, severing heads and lives alike.
Imperious goddess!
She moved with the force of the world, crushing souls and wills alike!
The two Saintesses of their generation were awe-inspiring to an immeasurable limit.
As the grand battle unfolded, the Chosen from the World Beyond and the Sealed Regions watched with dropped jaws and wide near socket-popping eyes!
San Yongli was so shaken that she couldn't help but let her heart pound furiously in her chest. Cultivation foundation was one thing, but Intent was entirely different! This meant, regardless of who, each one of these cultivators had the potential to become Worldly Saints!
Moreover, Wu Baozhai had three?! THREE?!
[Authur's Note: Wooooo!!! I'm cheering on my girl Wu! Wu! Wu Baozhai! Wooooo! Hehe.]
