Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

"What?! He's dead?" Startled to blankness, the young woman had an ugly expression on her face. As the two had been living together for tens of thousands of years, they've formed a faint spiritual connection. The moment the old man died by Yan Zaizen's crushing fist, she immediately sensed it. As of now, her beautiful countenance was painted with an ugly expression. Her eyes flickered with a trace of urgency and disbelief.

From their investigation of all those who've entered the realm, there was no one who possessed a cultivation base equivalence to the first-floor of the Heavenly Genesis Realm amongst those who've arrived. In their belief, it was safe if that was the case. They wouldn't need to close off the spatial platform connected to this floor. Their intentions to kill those who arrive at the collapsed sub-dimensional space and bring their ripe bodies here as offerings to expedite the ritual would be derailed if an expert at that level arrived.

However, now, It seems they miscalculated somehow.

She was solemn and filled with deep fear. At this moment, the formation for the ritual had yet to reach completion. Her father wasn't going to be able to revive without an appropriate amount of time, but if the expert could kill the old man, he could definitely prevent this from happening. She couldn't even stall for time. She wouldn't be their match due to the weakness that Phantasms have.

They lose their physical bodies, their souls become incapable of progressing through the known soul realms, and they can not cultivate in the Essence Path. The price was steep, but the payoff was something everyone wished for: Immortality!

However, it would be incorrect to say their strength was limited! It was simply that their only path left was insidiously difficult. If the Essence Path leads to the Heavenly Path, then the Phantasm Path leads to the Hell Path!

In truth, many cultivators, even those who cultivate the Essence Path, could and would choose the Hell Path if they can. Similar to the Heavenly Path, the Hell Path built a Hell Altar to refine one's energy. For every floor, you'll need materials that originate from hell and drops of Hell Spirit Liquid!

She looked towards the white-bone altar and couldn't help but reveal a profound sadness in her eyes, "was it all for nothing? The waiting...the dreaming...does the heavens truly wish no one to take the path of hell?!" At the end, her voice was filled with bubbling rage. If she had real teeth, her teeth would've been grounded in frustration and defiance.

"I don't accept!" She roared towards the skies, as if facing the actual heavens, and walked towards the white-bone altar. "Father...I'm sorry...I won't be able to see you for a while." Caressing the altar, her body irradiated a luminescence glow of sky-blue. With eyes that seemed as if they'll cry, she slowly phased into the altar like a ghost.

The moment she did, a silver flash of light entered the Seventh Floor. The duo arrived with caution in their hearts and intrigue in their eyes. However, when they arrived, there weren't any rooms, doors, and corridors. There was simply one very vast room with an unreasonably large white-bone altar that seemed like blood rained on it.

"This?" Intrigued, Yan Zaizen took a closer look. Just as he was about to send his spiritual sense outwards, Pinaka's urgent voice resounded, "Wait!"

He immediately ceased his action. Turning to Ma Xiuren, "Don't send out your sense," Yan Zaizen warned. Ma Xiuren merely nodded in understanding.

"That's...that's a two-floor Hell Altar! The Asura Phantom Palace Master actually cultivated the Hell Path?! But…" She seemed utterly surprised, as if the Hell Path itself was a frightening thing. "The Hell Path...to think someone could actually build the second-level of their Hell Altar." Her voice turned into mumbling filled with fascination.

"What do you mean?" Yan Zaizen inquired, his ignorance of the situation was rightfully so. Even Ma Xiuren did not know about the Hell Path. It was a very isolated path, but it was a path many powerful soul cultivators take! The reason being?

They had to venture to hell itself!!!

The materials for hell could only be obtained from hell, unlike the heavenly materials which could be obtained within the myriad realms. But to reach hell, one must die first. Or at least, they must be able to escape their bodies with their souls. Acknowledging this, as those who cultivate the way of phantasms, it makes sense that the Palace Master sent forces into Hell to gather materials for his altar.

However, similar to the staggering number of materials needed for the Heavenly Path, the Hell Path materials were scarce. Only the most dangerous locations of hell would possess enough materials, or you could only do so with constant expeditions to hell and time. However, the hell path didn't have nine levels but eighteen levels. This makes it even more difficult.

Not to mention, to cultivate the Hell Path, similar to the Heavenly Path, it requires you to have comprehension into the Heavenly Law of the Soul. However, you must first reach the Sovereign-level to do so! A level that allows you to rival the Heavens to actively go against it.

Or…

"Yan Zaizen! THERE!" Pinaka's voice was filled with excitement as her soul form directed Yan Zaizen's gaze to atop the white bone altar. A sky-blue pearl-like orb rested neatly on top.

"?" Yan Zaizen was a little confused.

"To cultivate the Hell Path, one needs to have a sovereign-level comprehension into the law of the soul! However, there's a workaround. If you possessed a Regalia of the Heavens! A concept at the sovereign-level, you can construct your Hell Altar without the requisite comprehension!" Her voice dripped with excitement.

Regalia of the Heavens?!

Looking towards the sky-blue orb, his eyes flickered with greed. He knew first hand the brilliance of a Regalia. He had to obtain it. If the hell path could be bypassed then perhaps the heavenly path could too!

"I'm going!" With that, he immediately executed Herculean Avatar Art, taking a step forward, he swiftly advanced towards the Hell Altar. He landed on the altar's top platform. Ma Xiuren, however, didn't follow. Her eyes were filled with wariness, but she didn't retreat, only maintained her location. If one looked closely at her tiny body, they'll see her vital energies stimulated in a state of readiness.

As he arrived on the platform, his heated gaze honed onto the sky-blue orb. It emitted faint fluctuations of the soul, but it felt faintly different than soul energy he was familiar with. It was more like it embodied the core of the soul. Just being near it, he could feel his soul pull towards it with an intense desire of possession. Whether it came from his soul or the orb, he couldn't really tell.

"What concept does this Regalia embody?" He curiously inquired.

"It should be related to phantoms," Pinaka responded, a little uncertainty could be heard in her voice.

"I wonder...what would happen if I refined this Regalia into my body." He silently pondered, but he had a faint intuition that doing so would lead to his certain death. At least, doing so at this moment.

"Hurry. Take it and leave!" Pinaka urged.

"Mhm." Nodding in understanding, he reached to grab the sky-blue orb. He expected something tremendous to happen, like the collapse of the hell altar, when he grabbed the sky-blue orb. However, the moment his palm came into contact with the sky-blue orb, his body radiated faint traces of brilliant white and inky black light. It intertwined with the sky-blue light the orb emanated as if fighting off some unknown concept.

"This…?" Yan Zaizen was shocked. It seemed that in the span of a second, his physical body which contained the laws of life and death was ferociously exchanging innumerable blows with the regalia's law of the soul in an epic battle! To him, it felt like a slight pinch of the palm.

In reality, if Yan Zaizen hadn't refined a Regalia into his physique, then his soul would've been pulled into the orb and converted into a phantom-like existence. However, how could his concepts allow such domineering thing to occur?! If Yan Zaizen died, so did they!

The sky-blue light was quickly subdued. It yielded, unable to contend with the unified effort of two World Laws. Yan Zaizen could see the sky-blue light dim slightly, but with that, he completely grasped the orb without resistance. Even Pinaka didn't have any experience regarding these things, therefore, she didn't warn him of the possible dangers of touching the orb.

Her previous master only reached the sovereign-level in the Mortal Law of Archery, which was a middle-tier Mortal Law, how could she know the unique characteristics of a Regalia based off a World Law? In fact, her master never created a Regalia of the Heavens.

As he held the orb in his hand, he felt that the conceptual law within it didn't pertain to phantoms. It was more like...processing…

PSH!!!

"...wha?" Yan Zaizen looked downwards at his chest. His pupils constricted in disbelief!

There was a sword as white as snow pierced into his chest. It faintly rippled in and out of existence as if it wasn't made from real materials but a construct of the ethereal soul. Even though he could visibly see it, his other senses couldn't find any semblance of its existence!

PATUI!

A spurt of blood leaked from his mouth, his throat choking slightly on the sudden surge of blood. From the placement of this blade, his heart was thoroughly sliced apart. For a cultivator, especially a soul cultivator, the best way to kill someone was destroying their heart. If someone possesses a profound soul cultivation, they could, theoretically, survive a beheading. However, regardless of what cultivation path you take, a destroyed heart essentially meant death!

The heart, after all, contained the source of your lifeforce! Unless your soul could exist outside of your body, you're dead.

THUD!

His body fell powerlessly on the hell altar like a puppet with its strings cut, his vision felt out of focus and distorted, and he could feel a profound sensation of death wrap around his body. The edges of his lips quivered in disbelief, shock, defiance, and anger! It twitched as if he wanted to roar to the heavens, but he couldn't feel connected to his physical body or soul at all.

Was this how death felt?