Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

Yan Zaizen's voice lingered in the hearts and minds of these Soaring Sword Sect experts. Their bodies still as their trembling eyes followed the descending corpse of their fellow sectmate. An eerie chill shivered down their spines.

Yan Zaizen casually waved the sword within his hands, brandishing it as if he was awaiting a response. As he felt the sword in his hand, he couldn't help but frown. His original body had comprehended all the Mortal and World Laws of the Heavens to the peak-Sovereign level, yet this body couldn't comprehend a hint of it.

This soul was truly lacking in substance and special characteristics. It lacked his comprehension of laws, the Black Hole, and even his True Dao. Outside of his Immortal Herculean Physique, there wasn't much else currently.

Though his Heavenly Dao Seed's energy can heighten his cultivation speed and power, he knew there was a huge disparity when comparing his Dao Heart. However, when he inspected the sword, he didn't even find a link to the Heavenly Laws.

"I can't feel the Heavenly Laws?" His eyebrows raised faintly as the lingering Nascent level law energy of the Mortal Law of the Sword lingered the sword's surface. His intelligence and thoughts were incomparably fast, capable of perceiving the Heavenly Annihilation Light and conceiving ten thousand thoughts in a matter of a second thanks to his Paragon Soul Realm cultivation. 

Yet, he couldn't delve into the principles of this law. How could he not find this odd? He felt as if the laws of this world were incompatible with his current soul. What did that even mean? What could it mean?

As he wondered this, he felt a cute bark resound in his heart and alert his mind. He subconsciously turned towards the skyship and recognized the snow-white puppy that was lightly making sounds, its eyes glimmering with excitement. A faint smile surfaced on his face subconsciously.

Swoosh!

As he was distracted and in thought, the Soaring Sword Sect members had a rapid transmission discussion, trying to alleviate their fears and drum up a resolve. They had come to a swift conclusion, acting decisively. A Qi Unification member shot backwards towards the Solitary Sword Mountain, his body enshrouded by sharp winds of qi. His speed was swift as he flew away.

However, there was no shame or fear in his eyes, but sheer determination. While they were skeptical to believe that Yan Zaizen was the Ancestor of the Yan Clan, those insidious devils of the past, they decided to act in accordance with their sect procedures. If a Yan Clan member too strong were to resurface, they were to alert the strongest expert and army of their force and hunt them down with extreme prejudice.

They had decided to inform their Sect Master without a single hesitation. As for the young man who boasted an initial-Origin Core Realm cultivation base, his body started to erupt in a vigorous aura. The other elders started to form strange handseals as they retreated behind the young man and seemed to establish some collaborative art. Streams of sword qi shot into the back of the young man and his aura intensified by the sword.

He retrieved a long sword. On its surface, sword qi flowed ceaselessly like ghosts and wraiths upon a haunted world.

"You dare to use the Yan name, those devils that should not exist, before the Soaring Sword Sect! I, Gu Ling, will ensure your death will be excruciating." Gu Ling, the Origin Core expert, announced with righteous and sharp demeanor. 

Yan Zaizen returned his gaze, observing their tactics. It reminded him of the Deluge Realmlord. At the time, he had galvanized the powers of his subordinates to attack him, executing unique manifestation-type arts that enabled offensive and defensive abilities. At that time, he similarly relied on his Herculean Path cultivation.

His memories flashed with intent as the sword in his hand was dropped. He was not a user of the sword. In truth, he used three types of weapons in his life, a bow, a warhammer, and his fist. 

"Fine. I don't have time to quietly wait. I'll just take what I want." Yan Zaizen's mood was not good. He had just learned that his bloodline was discriminated against and treated like devils, likely tortured and slaughtered in the past. The prejudice had been propagated endlessly and continued to do so.

These insignificant figures chose death, so he'll deliver it swiftly. 

Yan Zaizen stepped forward. His body, brimming with vital energies that kept him afloat, flashed swiftly towards Gu Ling. 

Gu Ling was an exalted Origin Core Realm expert, a cultivator with nearly a thousand years of experience, so he did not react poorly at Yan Zaizen's pressing arrival. He entered a steady stance and gathered his sword qi, his entirety immersed into the sword.

Yan Zaizen arrived a few meters away from Gu Ling, perfectly within close combat range. His hand was already balled into a tight fist as he threw it forward with a sharp sound. 

Gu Ling calmly responded, his sword met Yan Zaizen's fist. The knuckles of his fist met Gu Ling's edge of his blade, yet the scene of sword slicing through flesh hadn't occurred.

Bam!

Gu Ling felt a sharp impact in his chest, the air was knocked out of his chest as his mind rapidly solidified to comprehend what had happened. His body had been sent flying backwards. Before he could gather a complete understanding, Yan Zaizen's figure arrived above his retreating figure and his right leg was lifted into an unnaturally high position. With a sharp sound, Yan Zaizen bicycle kicked Gu Ling, aiming for his skull.

Gu Ling didn't hesitate to brandish his sword defensively as a sword qi ward that seemed to form a half-dome emerged above him in a blink. 

Boom!

Gu Ling felt the crushing impact as his head felt dizzy. He shot down from the sky at a rapid speed as he nearly lost consciousness, his sword qi was disorder and his blood tumbled endlessly. 

Bang!

He smashed into the ground creating a crater enough to rival a national pool. A muted gasp accompanied by spit and oxygen within his lungs escaped. His face distorted as the pain entered his head. 

Gu Ling felt a warm trickle from his head. He noticed faint crimson liquid dripping down from his forehead, his eyes still unfocused and blurry. However, before he could gather his mental faculties, a sharp, piercing down entered his abdomen as he felt his body was punctured. Fear, disbelief, and his life flashed before his eyes.

He could barely comprehend what had happened, turning to look at his chest to see a fist penetrating his torso, entering his heart. 

Spurt!

A gush of blood escaped his lips. He wanted to speak, say a thousand words and ten thousand questions, but not a single whimper was uttered. His lifeforce was shattered and his body felt numb yet cold. He was experiencing death. A blanket of black slowly engulfed his vision and his consciousness faded forever.

Yan Zaizen retracted his fist from Gu Ling's torso, causing a sickening sound of crushed bones and splashing blood. His expression was indifferent. Even though Gu Ling was empowered by those Qi Unification experts in a formation, at most his strength would be nearing the top of the initial-Origin Core Realm. After all, they were Qi Unification experts and their support was limited.

His amber-gold eyes looked upwards to find the Qi Unification experts of the Soaring Sword Sect gawk and tremble. They felt their connection to Gu Ling shatter and their minds knew the worst had occurred. Without hesitation, they split into many different directions in an attempt to delay for time.

Yan Zaizen shook his head. He grabbed Gu Ling's body and inspected his spatial ring. While he couldn't access his ring because of his lack of soul energy and stable soup cultivation, this wasn't true for normal spatial rings. With a matter of moments, he found what he was looking for.

A soul jade!

It was black and seemed to shine with a faint sanguine light. This was the detailed information about the Yan Clan's infamous reign of terror that led to their universal hate and condemnation. Holding this soul jade, his emotions were quite complex. 

Taking a short breath to regain his composure, he shot upwards slowly to arrive on the Skyship. A unified retreat occurred from the members onboard. They had heard Yan Zaizen's proclamation of his status and origins and felt terrified. After he beheaded one, he killed another without hesitation.

Old Man Bo swallowed a wad of saliva. He was similarly scared but when he looked at the visage of the youth he knew, he felt a sense of calm in his heart. 

Yan Zaizen smiled as he walked forward to arrive before Old Man Bo. He turned to see Long Wulin whose gaze was solemn and dark. This young boy definitely had a faint connection with him, but he didn't know the exact details. Unfortunately, it was best he left.

While he could face a True Essence Realm expert with all his trump cards, it was best he didn't damage his foundation and exhaust himself without it being worth it. Entering a conflict wasn't something he feared, but wasting time was.

"Let's go," he shifted his gaze away as he used his vital energies to engulf Old Man Bo. With a thought, they lifted into the sky and departed. While they weren't fast, their direction and speed was indiscernible. The mystifying means was just a slight exertion of his soul aura to bewilder the senses.

Long Wulin's gaze went dim as he watched Yan Zaizen's departure. His mind was filled with complex thoughts. Firstly, why did Yan Zaizen look at him at the last moment? And lastly, why did he feel a faint connection to him? He felt this wouldn't be the last time they met.

Before these thoughts could lead to anywhere, the True Essence Realm and Origin Core Realm elites of the Soaring Cloud Sect arrived yet found not a trace of Yan Zaizen nor where he went.