A needle that once belonged to Mo Ni. How could Gu Jimie possibly not know of it?

True, Gu Jimie only knew of the matter after he finished his self-isolation, but he was proud that the Soul Refining School would have such an excellent student. What other word but ‘genius’ could possibly describe someone attaining the rank of Soul Emperor at such a young age? Hardly anyone in the school’s history had ever done such a thing, let alone have a powerful soulbeast as a partner.

Gu Jimie was confident that given time and proper guidance, Mo Ni would become a fellow Saint.

But alas! It wasn’t meant to be! His death came too soon in the attack against the Fate School, and with his father no less!

The both of them were people Gu Jimie thought would carry the mantle of the school. That was why he nearly went crazy upon learning that he was the only one to make it back alive from their attack on the Fate School.

He never thought that the very first operation he’d lead as a Saint would end up in such a catastrophe.

That was also the reason why Gu Jimie so readily agreed to Shangguan Xiongyan’s suggestion. The Supreme Saint’s Inheritance was the last hope the Soul Refining School had...

And if he couldn’t get the Supreme Saint’s Inheritance, potentially saving Gu Lianhun would be the next best thing.

That was why he took the risk of traversing into the Soulbeast Forest and asking the Abyssal Snake Saint.

That was the plan. They were to follow Shen Pojun and the others into this place and attain their objectives. Instead, Gu Jimie was there to watch the demise of his teacher!

The demise of his teacher triggered a cascade of events starting with his ‘corpse explosion’. From failing to killing his enemies to causing a distortion in the dimension, the corpse explosion ultimately resulted in everyone being teleported away.

The only ‘lucky’ thing that happened was him finding the ‘end’ of the dimension where the Supreme Saint’s Inheritance was.

Gu Jimie just never expected to be ambushed by Bai Yunfei while he was studying the door!

And to be injured by the Soul Extinguishing Needle no less!

Gu Jimie was no stranger to its effects, he was already starting to panic when the needle’s effects began to propagate!

“Ahhh!!!”

A heart-wrenching scream began to erupt from Gu Jimie. Though he was ready for it, the pain was far too excruciating for him to bear!

It wasn’t a physical wound that hurt him so, it was a pain onto the soul!!

The Soul Extinguishing Needle was something that could kill an Early-stage Soul Emperor with a single prick. It was that powerful. But not so powerful that it could do the same to a Saint. However, it was still strong enough to make Gu Jimie feel as if a full-out soul attack hit him!

He could feel a strange energy seep into his body to where his soul was. The Soul Extinguishing Needle shouldn’t have this kind of capability, what was going on?!

What he didn’t know was that this ‘energy’ was all because of the Soul Extinguishing Needle’s +10 additional effect!

Equipment Grade: High Heaven

Elemental Affinity: Darkness

Upgrade Level: +12

Attack: 8280

Additional Attack: 8000

Soul Compatibility: 40%

Equipment Effect 1: Inflict damage to the target’s soul when a blow is landed.

Equipment Effect 2: A portion of the soul of each killed target is converted into attack. Portion converted is dependent on the strength of the killed target.

+10 Additional Effect: Inflict Soul-frayed once damage has been applied. For 10 seconds, spirit-based attacks do 100% more damage.

+12 Additional Effect: Ignore dark-type defenses.

Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints

......

“It worked!!”

A joyous smile grew on Bai Yunfei’s face. He had done it!

His opening punch and the Cataclysmic Seal were only diversions. His ‘killing blow’ was actually the Soul Extinguishing Needle!

He already planned for this to happen back when he was still in hiding. The goal was to first weaken the enemy and then to gain the advantage!

Of all the options he had, Bai Yunfei figured the Soul Extinguishing Needle would be the most optimal. He was fully confident that this would work!

The Saint of Fate made note of the door’s ability before, that was why Bai Yunfei made the plans he did. If soulforce was fed into the door, then the door would immediately start draining whatever was feeding it!

That was also the reason why he didn’t feed soulforce into the door. He knew that sooner or later, Gu Jimie would feed his soulforce into the door and be surprised by the result. Bai Yunfei had been waiting for that exact moment to strike!

And as expected, that was what happened. After discovering the veins within the door, Gu Jimie decided to see what would happen if he fed the door his soulforce and activated the door by accident. In that moment when Gu Jimie lost control over the flow of his soulforce, Bai Yunfei came out to deliver some shock damage and then use the Soul Extinguishing Needle when Gu Jimie was too busy dodging the Cataclysmic Seal!

It wouldn’t be fatal, but the damage would definitely be enough!

His goal wasn’t something as insignificant as getting a needle-thin prick on Gu Jimie’s shoulder. His goal was to do damage with the Soul Extinguishing Needle and then activate the +10 additional effect!

This would open the path forward for him!

......

Bai Yunfei’s eyes shined brightly as he watched the Soul Extinguishing Needle do its work. His hands were already a blur to form seals before the needle had even fully activated. And with each seal made...his soulforce started to spike!

‘Coil’ Form and then...

Berserk Mode!!

He was a Late-stage Soul Emperor, but going into both modes allowed his soulforce to spike straight beyond the point of a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor!

Distinctions could be made between a Late-stage Soul Emperor and a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor, so it was an easy matter to say Bai Yunfei was at the very least as strong as a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor. But the difference between a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor and an Early-stage Soul Saint was enormous. He could perhaps best be described as being ‘somewhere’ on the path. He was someone that was but also wasn’t. Someone was beyond that of a Soul Emperor but not quite there as a Saint.

Perhaps a quasi-Saint, if such a term existed.

Before, when Ge Yiyun fought against Shangguan Xiongyan, he made use of a secret technique to attain such a state.

Practically moments after he entered Berserk Mode, Bai Yunfei raised his hand to point a single finger at Gu Jimie!

“Freeze!!!”

After entering his strongest form of battle, Bai Yunfei immediately used the Soul Anchor Technique!

In his current state, the +12 additional effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf (double the attack of all spirit-type attacks), the +10 additional effect of the Soul Extinguishing Needle, and Gu Jimie’s stunned state—the Soul Anchor Technique would have a magnified effect!

......

“Ahh!!!!”

The word ‘freeze’ felt as though it was thunder rolling about in his ears. Already, Gu Jimie felt his energy start to warp and his soul twist inward on itself!

How did Bai Yunfei manage to pull off an attack like that!?

That was the very last thing Gu Jimie thought before his mind and soul froze!

The time a Saint spent frozen under the effects of the Soul Anchor Technique wouldn’t be long at all, but it was still considerable enough to be crucial. All of Bai Yunfei’s efforts would only grant him just a small portion of time, so Bai Yunfei was extra careful about what he was going to do next. His soulforce flared to life once again so he could brandish the Cataclysmic Seal at him!

Because it was used as a ‘diversion’ earlier, the Cataclysmic Seal came to a stop not too far away from Gu Jimie. At Bai Yunfei’s command, the Cataclysmic Seal expanded in size and circled around to slam into Gu Jimie!

Earlier, the Cataclysmic Seal flew from one edge of the door to the other, meaning that when it circled around, it’d come at Gu Jimie from his back while his front was facing the door! So just like the Mid-stage Soul Emperor from before had died, the Cataclysmic Seal was planning to ‘squish’ Gu Jimie against the gate!

Currently, Gu Jimie was still in a frozen state and was unable to dodge. There was a flash of light and a loud bang as the Cataclysmic Seal slammed into the man. Continuing to bring him farther due to inertia, the Cataclysmic Seal eventually slammed into the door with Gu Jimie right in between!

“Ahhh!!!”

A furious wail erupted from in between the two giant objects. For a second, nothing happened. Then a sudden torrent of black light spilled out from the cracks!

“Bang!!”

Right in the nick of time, Gu Jimie managed to free himself from the Soul Anchor Technique and protected himself with a bubble of energy!

More specifically, Gu Jimie managed to cushion himself with that bubble of elemental energy before the Cataclysmic Seal could successfully trap him in between.

The door violently trembled as the force of the Cataclysmic Seal was transferred to it. Then, it began to warp in on itself!

As if the door was suddenly transparent,the Cataclysmic Seal sailed straight ‘through’ the gate!

When Gu Jimie unleashed that bubble of energy, the combined force of it and the Cataclysmic Seal proved to be far too much for the gate to handle and it grew transparent!

And because of that, Gu Jimie was spared the gruesome fate of becoming a human sandwich. Without the door there, Gu Jimie was free to untangle himself from the Cataclysmic Seal and break free!

High up in the air again, Gu Jimie’s face was looking exceptionally pale. Some blood could be seen dripping from his lips. His left shoulder hung at a strange angle, as if it wasn’t fully connected to the rest of the body. His eyes were exceptionally merciless in their glare and his heart utterly baffled by his situation. But there was also a gleam of joy from having escaped just now.

“Bzz...”

Gu Jimie barely had any time to properly reflect on his joy when the world around him suddenly trembled. Puzzled, Gu Jimie looked up just in time to see an iridescent light surround him!

The Interdimensional Phantasm!!