Chapter 0696: Duke's Worldspace Domain

Bang!

As Vice Principal Su Xin's stern voice resounded, multiple heaven-shaking resonance arts were launched, each and every one containing frightening might. All of the Dukes behind her had launched their attacks the moment they stepped into the vicinity of the college, and they were all aimed at the youth with dual pupils.

These were merciless strikes.

Countless Duke Arts descended upon the world like heavenly retribution, all targeting the youth.

At the same time, Vice Principal Su Xin suddenly noticed the black fire lotus that was floating towards the Tree of Resonant Power, and rarely-seen fury blazed within her eyes. “This cretin is truly sick in the mind. Do they truly want to burn down the Tree of Resonant Power?”

The massive, high-grade Tree of Resonant Power was the foundation of the college. Once it was destroyed, the Umbra Cave would be unsealed and the Astral Sage College would lose its position as a sage college, along with all of the glory and history it possessed.

Vice Principal Su Xin had devoted her whole life to the college, especially during Principal Pang’s absence. Every single matter of the college, both major and minor, had her hand in it. Thus, the existence of the college itself was even more important to her than her life.

And this scum wanted to destroy it all!

One Duke Art after another roared past like a meteor shower. Shen Jinxiao took a step back, neatly placing the youth between him and the barrage of attacks.

The rage of countless Dukes was something he could not deal with.

On the other hand, the youth remained unfazed, simply lifting his hand and casually forming a hand seal.

A series of spirit lights gradually floated into the air before expanding and forming an indescribable domain several dozen meters wide. At the same time, the space within the domain seemed to have become a little distorted and blurry.

It was as though the little domain was an independent space that had been layered upon the world itself.

Boom!

At this moment, the barrage of domineering Duke Arts rained down upon them and directly collided with the domain. It shuddered under this apocalyptic rain of attacks, but for some reason, every Duke Art that entered the domain disappeared.

They were completely unable to harm the youth.

This unbelievable scene caused the Dukes to be taken aback.

"Duke Worldspace Domain?!" Vice Principal Su Xin had turned ugly as she gritted her teeth and enunciated every word.

Yu Hongxi's expression similarly became solemn as she gravely said, "This is an upper-grade Duke."

"Upper-grade Duke?" The rest of the Dukes felt like they had been struck by lightning.

The Duke Stage had nine grades. They were split into three divisions, and “upper-grade Duke” referred to Dukes who had entered the seventh-grade and above!

This was to say that the youth was at least a seventh-grade Duke.

Dukes who had reached that stage of power possessed a mystical strength that had been termed the Duke's Worldspace Domain.

The term “Duke” was coined with the secular title of a traditional duke in mind. In the secular world, the highest ranked dukes were able to receive territory in the border regions of the king they served. Simply speaking, they were allocated a domain to rule over, and it was territory they controlled.

In the cultivation world, when one reached the upper Duke Stage, they were able to open up a domain in the world around them, which was known as the Duke's Worldspace Domain.

The difference was that this territory was not physical land, but a world within one's own body. This world possessed miraculous properties that could protect one's body while projecting mystical might. The Duke's Worldspace Domain was ultimately the mark of one who had entered the upper-grade Duke Stage.

The domain the youth had projected was undoubtedly the Duke's Worldspace Domain. As a result, he had easily resisted the furious assault of all the Dukes.

Vice Principal Su Xin angrily glared at the youth as she icily asked, "Just who are you? Why do you wish to destroy my college's Tree of Resonant Power? You're declaring war on the entire Xia Kingdom with your actions! Releasing the Others into the world is something that goes against all of humanity!"

The youth grinned as his hands formed a greeting before his chest and his eyes drooped. "The genesis of light and dark are one, good and evil cease as one."

These words caused Vice Principal Su Xin and Yu Hongxi's eyes to shrink abruptly.

"You're with the Origin Reversion Institute!" As the college's vice principal and the Golden Dragon Bank's president, both of them were privy to secrets that many others would never have heard of. This included the Origin Reversion Institute.

It was one of the superpowers of the world.

Its hidden foundations were not inferior to the Academic Federation nor the Golden Dragon Bank's headquarters.

They also knew that that titanic power had been the cause of countless disasters. The edicts they believed and followed were ones that were incompatible with humanity, and they were looked upon with vigilance and hostility by the rest of the powers even in the inner divine continent.

But even despite all of this, the Origin Reversion Institute had demonstrated terrifying and strange powers that allowed them to become extremely resilient. Even after being targeted for numerous years, they continued to exist and continued with their activities unabated.

However, the activities of the Origin Reversion Institute had often only occurred within the inner divine continent. It was a flourishing and vibrant land when compared to the desolate wasteland known as the outer divine continents. With that in mind, why would they be interested in it now?

Still, this very action heralded their arrival.

Perhaps the Astral Sage College wasn't even the first one.

Vice Principal Su Xin thought back to the Holy Grail Meet, where the colleges’ elders were having a discussion. The Blackwind Empire's destruction had traces of the Origin Reversion Institute's involvement. Now that the Blackwind Empire had been vanquished, had they turned their sights to the Xia Kingdom?

Was the Xia Kingdom about to turn out just like the Blackwind Empire?

"Everyone, the Others are born from the evil thoughts of humanity. They are merely just another facet of humanity. Blindly separating them is not the solution. Only by releasing them and assimilating as one will they truly disappear. At the same time, the human race will also usher in a new era of transformation and evolution," the youth preached as he explained the Origin Reversion Institute's ideals.

"Lunatic!" some of the Dukes exclaimed with both shock and anger. Were these truly words coming from a fellow human? The Others were terrifying existences that sought to annihilate everything. These individuals wanted to release them voluntarily? Were there not enough people who had died already?

It was not like they had never encountered an Other Disaster either. Some had seen it in the flesh, and it was hell on earth.

Thus, the youth's words seemed to be the ravings of a madman.

"Vice Principal, it was Shen Jinxiao who led them in. He has betrayed the college and turned into a medium for the Ichythian King. He has been secretly planting seeds of corruption in the college for years and corrupted countless Violet Vibrance mentors!" a battling Violet Vibrance mentor roared.

Vice Principal Su Xin's gaze was like daggers as she glared at Shen Jinxiao upon hearing those accusatory words. Her entire body was trembling with animosity and fury towards him. "Shen Jinxiao! The college has never mistreated you. Why did you do such a thing!?"

Facing the embodiment of fury, Shen Jinxiao fell silent before helplessly smiling. "Vice Principal, this is just a choice of mine. There is no need to ask why. What I want, the college is unable to provide. Thus, I had to choose the Ichythian King! If you like, you can say that the Ichythian King exploited a desire within my heart and I was unable to resist it."

Vice Principal Su Xin continued to give him the death stare. Still, he remained unconcerned, simply reminding her, "Vice Principal Su Xin, instead of worrying about me, you should be turning your attention to the Tree of Resonant Power."

"I don't need your reminder." Vice Principal Su Xin snorted coldly, murderous intent overflowing from her body.

Swoosh!

A stream of light flashed out from Vice Principal Su Xin's body, transforming into a small, green umbrella that appeared atop the Tree of Resonant Power. It quickly opened up, releasing glittering, green light that took the shape of a mysterious veil. It was now guarding the Tree of Resonant Power.

When the black lotus came into contact with the veil of light, the latter ignited and began to burn, but green light continued to fall upon the flames, reducing the rate at which they burned the veil.

"Everyone, lend me a hand and kill this beast!"

Seeing that the Karmic Sinflame Lotus had been temporarily held back, Vice Principal Su Xin no longer tarried, issuing a quick command as she pointed at the youth. The green muslin umbrella was her top-grade violet-eye treasured artifact, and despite doing her best, it was unable to completely stop the black lotus. Thus, it was more prudent to get rid of the youth first.

Yu Hongxi and the rest of the Dukes agreed and burst forth with all their might. Resonance arts were released unrestrainedly at the youth in a magnificent torrent.

This awe-inspiring display of power caused the entire world to shudder.

Despite their numbers, traces of worry could be seen in the depths of Vice Principal Su Xin's eyes. She understood the gravity of the situation. The Origin Reversion Institute was a behemoth, and if they dared to take action, they would naturally have sufficient means to ensure their success.

It seemed that if they wished to avert this catastrophe, merely relying on the strength of there Dukes would not be enough.

Unless... Vice Principal Su Xin glanced at the Tree of Resonant Power.

“Principal! Just what is happening on your end?”