"Perfect timing, Master. Seal the space..." Li Chen uttered, his voice steady despite the chaotic Qi swirling around him.
The Immortal Emperor within the ring did not reply with words. Action was his language.
Buzz—!
The air in a thousand-mile radius suddenly solidified. It wasn't just a suppression of pressure; it was a total lockdown of the spatial laws. The rain stopped in mid-air, suspended like millions of glittering diamonds. The smoke from the burning peaks froze in jagged, statuesque clouds. Even the beating of the hearts of the surviving disciples seemed to pause in that eternal second.
A transparent, hexagonal grid shimmered into existence, covering the heavens like a fallen cage of a god. This was a Domain Lock—a technique that defied the natural order, achievable only by those who stood at the pinnacle of the Dao.
Elder Xuan Ji, floating amidst the dissipating lightning, froze. His euphoria of breaking through to the Soul Lord realm was instantly doused by a bucket of ice water.
"What is this?!" he roared, his voice distorted by the overlapping echoes of the souls he had consumed. He tried to move, but his body was locked in place, trapped in amber. "Space... Space has been sealed?! Who?! Who dares to imprison a Devil Lord?!"
His eyes, burning with chaotic red and black light, scanned the horizon frantically. They passed over the weeping disciples, the corpses of the elders, and the trembling Holy Maiden, finding no source of power great enough to wield such authority.
Then, his gaze fell upon Purple Bamboo Peak.
And there, standing calmly on a balcony of a shattered pavilion, was a single youth. Wang Tianmo, rapidly rubbing towards him.
"Not good..." Elder Xuan swallowed his Adam's apple, glancing at the archbishops to help him. Alas, it seems they were trapped within space as well.
A sinister smile appeared on Tianmo's face. He wanted to attack exactly after Elder was struck by thunder but the presence of the Arch-bishop was of great threat... However, out of nowhere a space prison came into existence. Seeing a chance he rushed towards Elder Xuan without hesitation.
Woosh!
Tianmo leaped into the air, his hand grabbed Elder Xuan. With Immortal-grade formless spirit root, he could absorb anything, walk in any path.
"You did well master, now let this disciple reward you with a good eternal rest..."
With a 360° spin, Tianmo grabbed Elder Xuan by his neck, his fingers digging into the flesh like iron talons.
Woosh!
Tianmo absorbed the very existence of Elder Xuan, his pores opening like countless starving mouths. The chaotic, devilish Qi that Xuan Ji had cultivated over centuries—the blood essence, the refined souls, the very foundation of his Dao—rushed into Tianmo like a dam breaking.
Tianmo's body became a black hole, a singularity of greed. He didn't just take the energy instead he took the concept of it. He sucked the very Dao-essence of the True Devil Heart and Devil Fire.
Crack! Snap!
Boom!
The Immortal Dantian quickly refined the energy, the 8 Zodiac meridians shining like stars in the night sky, greedily drinking the torrent of power. The Formless Spiritual Root lived up to its name—shapeless, boundless, capable of mimicking and devouring any attribute of Qi.
The chaotic Devil Qi, usually poisonous and uncontrollable to ordinary cultivators, was instantly tamed, stripped of its malice, and compressed into pure, liquid spiritual power.
Tianmo's aura didn't just rise slowly... It exploded.
The shackles of the Great Foundation realm, a realm that had taken geniuses decades to master, shattered like glass.
Second Stage—early → mid → late and peak.
Third Stage—early → mid → late and peak.
Fourth Stage! Fifth stage! Sixth stage!
Seventh stage! Eighth stage! Ninth stage.
Boom!
Break through to the golden core.
But the process didn't stop.
First stage. Second... Ninth stage.
Boom!
Break through!
Soul formation realm.
The world held its breath. One. Two. Three.
Then, it screamed.
Boooooommmmmm!
As Tianmo crossed the threshold into the Soul Formation realm, the Immortal Dantian, now a swirling galaxy of violet and gold, pulsed once. A shockwave of pure pressure erupted from his body, not of Qi, but of pure existence.
The hexagonal spatial prison that the Immortal Emperor had erected groaned under the sudden, violent expansion of Tianmo's aura. The suspended raindrops instantly vaporized into mist, then into plasma.
Tianmo's body hung in the air, no longer looking like a youth. His skin gleamed with a luster that surpassed jade, taking on a metallic, divine sheen. His muscles rippled, not with the bulk of a mortal, but with the dense, compact power of a Primordial Dragon awakening from eons of slumber.
His hair whipped around him, dancing in a wind of spiritual energy that he generated himself. The eight Zodiac Meridians within him blazed like supernovas, casting a ghostly, multi-colored glow across the darkened sky.
He looked down at his hand. The flesh of Elder Xuan Ji was gone, consumed entirely. Not even dust remained. The Devil Lord, the monster who had terrorized the sect, had been reduced to nothing more than a stepping stone for Tianmo's ascent.
Welcome to nature. You hunt and you get hunted.
The spiritual energy didn't stop swirling; it condensed into a vortex above Tianmo, forming a phantom image of a colossal Dragon coiling around a Lotus. The pressure was immense, causing the very air to emit cracking sounds, as if space itself was groaning under the weight of his new existence.
Below, the surviving disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect looked up, their eyes filled with a mixture of awe and primal terror. The monster that had been their Grand Elder was gone, erased from existence. In his place hovered a youth who now radiated a power that dwarfed the Holy Lord in his prime.
"M-Master..." Liu Ruyan clutched the railing of the balcony, her knuckles white. She had seen him cultivate, had felt his Yang essence, but this... this was different. He felt alien, divine, and terrifyingly distant. The slave mark on her soul throbbed, not in pain, but in a resonant hum, acknowledging the ascent of its master.
But amidst the worship, there was confusion.
"Who is that?!"
"Is he... is he a demon in human skin?"
"He killed Elder Xuan! But... he saved us from the Bloodmist Sect!"
The murmurs grew like a restless tide. To them, Tianmo was an enigma wrapped in a mystery. He had slaughtered the invaders, yes, but he had also consumed a fellow sect elder.
However, Tianmo merely smiled, his eyes glowing deep purple.
Primordial Dragon bloodline: 25%
His cultivation finally stopped at the early-third stage of the Soul formation realm.
Woosh!
The Devil fire mixed with the aura of the Supreme and the wrath of the dragon, the primal destruction rushed everywhere.
The surviving disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect froze. The awe they had felt moments ago turned into a chill that burrowed into their marrow. They looked at the youth floating above them not as a savior, but as a predator who had just finished devouring the pack leader.
The aura of the Soul Formation realm rolled off him in waves, heavy and suffocating.
He looked down at the sect. The once-beautiful peaks were now scarred ruins. The defensive formation was shattered, the dormitories obliterated, and the main plaza was a slaughterhouse stained with blood and ash. What a beautiful masterpiece.
And amidst the ruins, thousands of disciples remained. Qi Refining, Foundation, Golden Core... they were ants scurrying in the shadow of a giant.
To Tianmo, they weren't fellow sect members. They weren't brothers and sisters in the Dao.
They were resources. Stepping stone to greatness.
"Arghhhhhhh! I'm being...."
"Runn!!"
"No... Someone... Save me."
The devil fire, it was a cold, violet flame that fed not on matter, but on the very essence of life. Whoever was touched by flame died within seconds, their body turning into a black pill.
Tianmo hovered in the center of the maelstrom, his expression devoid of any mundane emotion. Below him, the screams began—a cacophony of terror that rose up like a dark prayer.
"Save me! Senior Brother! Spare us!"
"I am the grandson of the Eld— arghhhh!"
Pleas for mercy, threats of retaliation, cries for family—it was all noise. Meaningless static in the face of the Dao of Consumption.
Tianmo extended his arms.
**
"Master... Not good.... Kill him, kill him right now." Li Chen roared.
How could this be?! He was meant to shine and become the hope of the sect, and get the Holy Maiden to be his Dao partner. Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!
"Master, please! You must act! If we let him continue, he will refine the entire sect! By then, even with your guidance, I won't be able to kill him!" Li Chen's mental voice was frantic, his composure shattering under the weight of the unfolding apocalypse.
The Immortal Emperor's voice, however, remained as calm as a frozen lake. "Boy, look closely. Do you see the space around him?"
Li Chen squinted, his spiritual sense straining against the oppressive pressure. The hexagonal grid that the Immortal Emperor had erected... it was trembling. Not from the outside, but from the inside. The space within the cage was vibrating, resonating with Tianmo's absorption.
"He... he is resonating with the spatial lock?" Li Chen gasped.
"Precisely," the Immortal Emperor replied, a rare note of intrigue coloring his tone. "That technique... the way he consumes... It is not merely absorption. It is assimilation. He is turning the energy of the dead into his own domain. If he breaks through to the mid-stage of Soul Formation while inside my seal, he might just shatter it. And if he shatters it..."
The implication hung heavy in the air. If Tianmo broke the seal of an Immortal Emperor, he would no longer be a genius. He would be a monster that defied the laws of the realm.
"Master! We must strike now! While he is still focused on the slaughter!"
"No."
How could the Immortal Emperor kill him?! 8 Supreme Dao Bone, 8 Zodiac meridians, Immortal Dantian, and freshly awakened Immortal Dao body, plus True Devil heart and all refining Devil Flame. That's a dream body to possess.
What's more, he even possesses an Immortal-grade spirit root. Give him 100 years and he is described to become Immortal by simply living and breathing. However, it seemed his spirit root was formless. It's both good and bad. Good because it can walk in any path bad because there is a chance you will get absorbed by roots instead of possessing the body.
"Junior Li, I will pour my energy, that way you can break through to the nascent soul realm however, you will suffer a backlash afterwards... You just have to force him into unconsciousness without heavily damaging him."
The voice said. If Tianmo is highly injured, he may die when being possessed. Immortal Emperor can't let it happen.
Li Chen's heart pounded like a war drum in his chest, but he forced his breathing steady.
"Hn..." The Immortal Emperor's power surged into him—a frigid torrent of ancient Qi that scorched his meridians even as it elevated them. His dantian expanded, cracking open like an egg under pressure, birthing the radiant glow of Nascent Soul.
Boom!
The air split with thunderous force. Li Chen exploded from the hall, his body wreathed in crystalline azure flames. No longer a mere Foundation cultivator, he was a nascent godling, his aura clashing against Tianmo's devilish maelstrom.
"Haha... Good! Good! Good! I, Li Chen, swear under the heaven to reclaim my dignity and slay the devil in human skin named Tianmo."
"Oh, pray tell... How would you reclaim your dignity?"
With a void step, he appeared behind Li Chen.
"May, I know the name of the fairy..." Tianmo said looking at Holy Maiden, Yang Bingyun. He completely ignored Li Chen as if he were a speck of dust floating in the wind.
Li Chen froze, his momentum dying in mid-air. The majestic aura of the Nascent Soul realm, the power he had just borrowed from the Immortal Emperor, suddenly felt flimsy, like a paper shield facing a typhoon.
Tianmo didn't even look at him?! How come? The humiliation... Outrageous.
"COURTING DEATH!!!"
"I-I... I am Yang Bingyun, Holy Maiden of the Azure Cloud Sect..." she stammered, her voice trembling like a leaf in a gale. The icy facade she had maintained for years was melting under the terrifying heat of Tianmo's gaze.
Tianmo smiled, a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "A Holy Maiden... with a Divine Ice Maiden physique. Rare. A furnace that can freeze the soul and ignite the blood. A pity to see such a treasure wasted on a dying sect."
He reached out, his fingers brushing a stray lock of hair from her face. The touch was electric, sending a jolt of fear through her veins.
"I give you two options.... Either be my furnace or die, I give you three breaths to decide. If you fail to answer, I shall end your life."
Bang!
Just then, Li Chen struck Tianmo, his hands flowing with a bright golden aura. The hand struck Tianmo's chest.
Pfft!
A deep hole appeared.
***