Chapter 1284: Cloud Saint's Death (2)

Cloud Saint continued his desperate attempts to escape, pushing his speed to the limit. Behind him, Wu Yuan's ether body and mana body worked in perfect harmony, relentlessly pursuing and attacking, closing the distance with each passing moment.

Physical attacks alone won't be enough to kill him.

Wu Yuan analyzed the situation with cold precision.

My ether body's strikes aren't strong enough. My body refiner self has to either advance further and create a Dao Zenithel ultimate technique, or develop an even more powerful saber technique.

So be it then. I'll let my mana body go all out.

His qi refiner self's advancement to the fourth step had indeed raised the power of his mana body's soul attacks to another level. Unlike physical attacks, which were direct, visible, and impossible to conceal, soul attacks were difficult to detect in advance. Their greatest advantage lay in their mystery; only by keeping them veiled could their deterrent effect remain at its peak. Once revealed, allowing enemies to gauge their true strength and prepare defenses, their threat would diminish significantly.

Even so, Wu Yuan remained confident in his abilities.

My ether body and mana body are extremely strong. Working together, even if the True Saints in the top hundred of the rankings currently in the Tenth Chaos Void joined forces against me, I would have a chance of weathering their assault.

His ambitions soared higher.

Moreover, once I eliminate Cloud Saint, my mana body's domain will stand unrivaled. When the time comes to vie for the Chaos Nucleus, I'll possess an enormous advantage.

Having reached his decision, Wu Yuan acted.

Whoosh!

Under the watchful gaze of countless powerhouses, True Saint Ming Jian's form suddenly grew ethereal and unpredictable, as if existing in another spacetime altogether. Around him, a vast and boundless realm materialized. This was an incomprehensibly immense universe filled with myriad mystical phenomena. Within this otherworldly spacetime, a blurred sword silhouette thrust forward.

All of spacetime seemed to fall silent.

Time froze.

Karma became crystal clear.

This was the ultimate attack of a Psyche Arsenal Class Eternal—the Lifebound Psyche Weapon’s Obliteration Rite. It represented an all-out eruption of power from a Psyche Arsenal powerhouse.

In that instant, as energy burst forth, the souls and spirits of hundreds of nearby True Saints trembled violently, as if facing their own mortality. They instantly realized that if struck by that sword silhouette, their elimination would be inevitable.

"This?"

"This attack?" True Saint Luo Quan, True Saint Shen Yan and the others felt their faces drain of color.

These mighty True Saints, veterans of countless battles across eons, felt their hearts quake.

True Saint Luo Quan had survived numerous calamities through the ages, believing that nothing short of a Dao Zenithel could threaten his existence. Yet now, an unsettling certainty gripped him: if he were to face this sword silhouette attack, he would die.

This was, without question, the most powerful soul attack he had ever witnessed.

Psyche Arsenal class powerhouses excelled at sacrificing their own psyche energy to utterly annihilate their opponent's spirit and consciousness, slaying them directly.

"Retreat.”

"Run.”

The True Saints scattered across the vast spacetime felt an irresistible urge to withdraw, none daring to approach too closely.

The observing True Saints merely felt shock and awe at the terrifying sword silhouette. Meanwhile, Cloud Saint, facing the Psyche Arsenal sword silhouette head-on, was struck with genuine, existential terror. Logically, with the strength of his Dao Heart, he should have remained unshakable, facing death with composure. But when the sword silhouette appeared, his spirit trembled like a leaf.

Rise!

Without hesitation, Cloud Saint activated his most powerful life-preserving treasure while simultaneously focusing his soul to unleash a secret art, desperately attempting to resist the oncoming doom.

Whoosh~

A layer of hazy red light emitting mystical fluctuations shimmered around Cloud Saint's body. This was his ultimate life-preserving treasure, capable of blocking even the most powerful soul attacks.

Boom~

The sword silhouette passed through the barrier, and the red light shattered instantly, not even lasting a moment. The sword silhouette then pierced directly into Cloud Saint's body. There were no visible changes to his exterior, but his vital aura and soul aura began to fluctuate violently, like a pond disturbed by a falling boulder.

"No!" Cloud Saint let out an agonized howl, his face contorting in pain. He felt as if his mind was exploding from within, his soul, consciousness, and spirit seemingly twisting and shattering bit by agonizing bit.

This pain originated from the depths of his spirit. The excruciating agony of his soul being destroyed was so intense that even Cloud Saint, with all his power, struggled to maintain basic control. The torment was so unbearable that somewhere in the recesses of his spirit, a faint urge for self-destruction began to form, if only to end the suffering.

Wu Yuan's mana body looked on intently.

He had unleashed his mana body's strongest strike, sacrificing half of his psyche energy for an all-out Psyche Arsenal attack. If this failed, Wu Yuan wouldn't be able to attempt a second strike for quite some time.

As his mana body's attack continued to tear at Cloud Saint's soul, Wu Yuan's ether body moved.

Whoosh!

Swift as lightning, his ether body charged forward, saber gleaming with cold light as he attacked with all his might.

The blow sent Cloud Saint flying backward once more, his vital aura noticeably diminishing with each passing moment.

Previously, Cloud Saint had been able to withstand the attacks because they were trading blows, allowing him to block most of Wu Yuan's ether body attacks. But now, Cloud Saint was in such extreme agony that he couldn't even respond, let alone defend. He could only passively endure the onslaught, suffering damage hundreds or thousands of times greater than before.

In just moments, the harm inflicted upon Cloud Saint far exceeded the cumulative damage from all of Wu Yuan's previous assaults combined.

Whoosh! Boom!

Cloud Saint finally broke free from his torment. Through sheer willpower, he had managed to claw his way out of that endless abyss of agony, somehow withstanding the killing blow from Wu Yuan's mana body.

I'm... alive?

Cloud Saint's first reaction was one of disbelief, his eyes wide and unfocused.

This nightmarish experience was something he never wanted to endure again. Or rather, if he were to face it a second time, he knew with absolute certainty that he would perish.

My Eternal Psyche.

Cloud Saint instantly perceived the dire state of his condition.

His Eternal Psyche was covered in horrifying cracks, teetering on the brink of completely shattering. It was almost unbelievable that with damage of this magnitude, his Eternal Psyche hadn't already crumbled to dust.

Over eighty percent of my soul essence is damaged?

Cloud Saint's mind trembled with shock, tinged with a cold fear.

It was too terrifying. He had survived this killing blow, but at the cost of injuries so severe they might be beyond recovery. Damage to one's soul essence would also affect the Eternal Psyche. If the damage was too extensive, even the Eternal Psyche would shatter completely.

"Wu Yuan?" Cloud Saint's gaze fixed on his approaching enemy.

"Scram!" He roared, desperately swinging his palm in an attempt to block Wu Yuan's next round of saber attacks. He had realized that a significant portion of his injuries had been inflicted not by Ming Jian's soul attack, but by Wu Yuan's physical assault during his moment of weakness.

Bang!

Cloud Saint was once again sent flying by Wu Yuan's saber, his injuries compounding with each blow.

Right now, I have less than half my peak strength.

Cloud Saint realized with growing despair. With his Eternal Psyche so severely cracked, the power he could channel through his eternal mana had plummeted, naturally reducing his overall combat power as well.

Whoosh!

Cloud Saint once again used the momentum of Wu Yuan's attack to propel his flight.

At this point, while True Saint Ming Jian could no longer unleash such a terrifying soul attack, his condition seemed far better than Cloud Saint's, and he could still maintain his domain at peak power. At this moment, his Golden Lotus domain completely suppressed Cloud Saint's greatly weakened snowflake domain.

The domain suppression alone was enough to push Cloud Saint further into desperation.

This is bad.

Cloud Saint thought, his mind racing for solutions.

That killing move Ming Jian just used must have consumed most of his psyche energy. He shouldn't be able to fight at full strength anymore. But by fighting like this, he's trading his life for mine in a sense.

Meanwhile, Wu Yuan's combat power remains undiminished, his vitality completely intact. He continues to attack relentlessly without defending, determined to fight to the death.

Madmen!

Cloud Saint gritted his teeth, a tinge of despair creeping into his heart.

These two are both madmen, fighting with reckless abandon.

While he could typically endure a prolonged frontal assault, this mutual drain on their vitality was different. How could he, alone, outlast two opponents working together?

Whoosh!

Wu Yuan charged in again, saber in hand, completely suppressing and binding Cloud Saint, making escape nearly impossible.

Cloud Saint's speed plummeted, his power drastically diminished. His Eternal Psyche teetered on the verge of collapse.

It seemed Cloud Saint's demise was all but certain.

"Save me!" he transmitted desperately to True Saint Luo Quan. "I'll give you all my treasures, just get me out of here!" He knew that only True Saint Luo Quan possessed the power to intervene and save him now.

"If you had asked for my intervention at the start, I might have agreed," came Luo Quan's measured response. "But now? I dare not."

"Cloud Saint, you're on your own," True Saint Luo Quan continued. "Even if you fall, you should still be able to resurrect through your contingencies."

Indeed! The overwhelming power and sheer madness displayed by True Saint Wu Yuan and True Saint Ming Jian had intimidated even Luo Quan. After brief contemplation, he had abandoned any notion of interfering. The potential gains simply weren't worth the risk.

Cowardly bastard! Am I truly going to die?

Cloud Saint fell into utter despair, yet his eyes grew ever more frenzied, fixated on Wu Yuan. He continued to struggle with all his might, every fiber of his being fighting for survival. Until the very last moment, he refused to surrender, clinging to the faintest hope of a miracle.

Alas, miracles are called miracles precisely because they rarely occurred, and no such divine intervention graced Cloud Saint in his hour of need.

"He's going to die.”

"Cloud Saint is about to fall.”

"He can't hold on much longer."

The hundreds of True Saints who had been spectating instinctively retreated even farther away, all watching in mingled awe and horror as Cloud Saint grew increasingly manic, his movements increasingly desperate with each passing moment.

An immensely powerful True Saint who had defied the heavens to take the fourth step of his self-created Dao was steadily marching towards death before their eyes.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Golden lotuses from Ming Jian's domain bound and suppressed him, while occasional sword lights slashed across Cloud Saint's body. Most terrifying were the blade rays from Wu Yuan's saber, each stroke carrying horrifying power, repeatedly ravaging Cloud Saint's defenses and sending him flying again and again.

Despite his Chaos Treasure battle armor and the protection of his self-created Dao’s profundities, Cloud Saint's vitality continued to wane.

"Wu Yuan!" His voice rose in a final, defiant roar.

"Ming Jian!

"I will return! When I come back and become a Dao Zenithel, I swear I'll kill you both! I swear by all that exists!" In his final moments, Cloud Saint made this furious promise before his form violently dissipated in a blinding flash.

He had fallen.

The second-ranked on the True Saint Rankings, the Immortal Court's Cloud Saint, was dead!

With Cloud Saint's self-detonation, the numerous treasures he carried scattered across the void. Wu Yuan swiftly collected them—a vast array of rare artifacts and fragments of Chaos Treasures. It was an immense haul.

These fallen True Saints are all the same.

Wu Yuan observed, examining the spoils with a practiced eye.

Before death, they destroy every treasure they can, unwilling to let their enemies stand to benefit.

He immediately noticed this familiar pattern.

Unless instantly killed, they all strove for a final act of defiance.

Of course, the most precious treasures like Xiantian Instruments and Chaos Treasures were too resilient to be destroyed.

The total haul should exceed a billion Xuanhuang merits.

Wu Yuan calculated with a satisfied smile. It was his largest single acquisition ever, enough to redeem three Chaos Treasures.

Cloud Saint is dead. With this, the Immortal Court has completely lost its competitive edge in the Tenth Chaos Void.

Wu Yuan muttered to himself, his gaze sweeping across the void. The hundred-plus Immortal Court True Saints from earlier had long since fled, not a single one remaining to challenge him.

Even True Saint Shen Yan, who had attacked him before, along with many other formerly confident True Saints, had made themselves scarce. They dared not gamble on Wu Yuan's mercy.

Let's go.

Wu Yuan paid no mind to True Saint Luo Quan watching from a distance. He harbored no killing intent towards him; it was natural for him to come seeking treasures, and in the end, he hadn't interfered in the battle.

Wu Yuan's ether body and mana body transformed into two streaks of light, flying off into the distant void, swiftly vanishing from the perception of the many observing True Saints.

...

As Wu Yuan vanished from sight, the aftershocks of the battle began to spread. Cloud Saint’s death sent tremors through the eternal powerhouses.

True Saint Bai Bing's demise had certainly caused a commotion. Yet she was merely a Full True Saint. Cloud Saint, however, had Threshold Dao Zenithel power.

"True Saint Wu Yuan has taken the fourth step. His combat power now rivals True Saint Luan Hai."

"Who among us could withstand True Saint Ming Jian's psyche dream illusions or his psyche weapon attacks? Even True Saint Luan Hai himself lacks such confidence."

"With those two joining forces, not a single soul in the entire Tenth Chaos Void stands a chance against them."

"Invincible.”

"Absolutely invincible.”