Chapter 1654 1647: Soulguard
Chapter 1654 1647: Soulguard
The resilience of a Sage rivals immortals of legends. To put it simply, in the world of cultivation, Sages were notoriously, disastrously, despairingly difficult to kill. While Wei Wuyin had achieved this astounding feat not just once but twice, his act defied common sense on so many levels that it could turn the entire world topsy-turvy at the mere exposure of it.
The Mystic Ascendant Realm, at its core, didn't require Laws to establish themselves, and while mainstream cultivation had elevated from its inception and the pursuit of Seeds of Laws to stabilize the soul, strengthen the will, and supplement one's cultivation base with terrifying power was the norm, the saying existed during the early days of cultivation and still maintained a significant platform of truth. Normally, at most, Heavenly Saints used their connection with the Three Thousand Realms of Heaven's Law to temper themselves, strengthening their Heavenly Radiance to make continuous leaps through the Mystic Ascendant Realm.
Sages were existences who touched upon greater profound principles, and they grasped the truest form of Mystic Power that was supplemented by their souls' innate energies. They could draw upon the faintest wisps of the Laws' power without possessing or nurturing a Seed of Law through this detail. This faint resonance with the Laws of the Heavens allowed them to achieve extraordinary feats, not to mention their vigorous lifeforce, tempered soul, and guarded Mystic Soul. f𝗿e𝗲𝘄𝗲bn𝐨𝚟𝚎l.com
It was this guarded Mystic Soul that made it stupendously difficult to normally kill Sages by any typical tactic. Their cultivation base upon ascension naturally gains an ability known as the Sage's Soulguard that was formed. The Sage's Soulguard was a shield that guarded against the minor influence of Law auras and Mystic Power and tethered the Mystic Soul to the heavens. Unless a cultivator could breach that guard, the Mystic Soul would persist indefinitely.
Wei Wuyin had relied on his Minor Laws, specifically Annihilation, Saber, and Imperial to breach this guard twice, slaying two Sages. The Sage's Guard was also why Teng Jiangwen had believed himself invincible! They had already left the domain of Wei Wuyin's Imperial Territory, so he shouldn't be able to muster any strength to pierce through his innate protection!
Despite fighting what essentially amounted to four Sages and a portion of an entire galaxy's strength, Zhan Jiangwen was still alive! Why? Because they didn't have a single Minor Authority of Law between them to breach his Spirit of War's Soul Guard!
As a Spirit of War, his newly transformed soul was uniquely tailored to the Law of War and could emulate a Sage's vigor by default by creating a similar protection. Every Spirit of War had such sturdy resilience. As long as the Nexus War Flag existed and the quintessence of their souls wasn't annihilated after their Soulguard was breached, they couldn't be genuinely killed, only severely damaged.
"Hgh!"
A light cough escaped his lips as his shattered body lay in shambles floating across the Dark Void. He only had one limb left-his left leg. His torso was missing chunks and his face was mangled by tyrannical power that took on a faint, yellowish glow. He was the very picture of 'defeated'.
The hazy shadowy shroud that concealed his looks and aura had largely faded, hanging only by the edges of his remaining leg, twisting like frantic snakes at the end of their lives.
'I hate...fighting...fucking...Sages...'
Zhan Jiangwen cursed weakly in his thoughts with an awkward chuckle that was followed by a heaving of dry breath and a gush of spirit blood. In his past life, he was a true Vagabond Cultivator who relied on his cunning, ambition, and courage to take step-by-step paths to the True Sage Phase of the Mystic Ascendant Realm, an undeniably terrifying feat and had conceived, nurtured, and birthed a Minor Authority.
Among Sages, he stood out as elite despite his lack of a solid foundation during his early years. He defied logic and expectations, reaching unimaginable heights.
One could tell that grasping a Minor Authority was extraordinarily difficult, even for Sages, as not a single one of the four Sages that were actively taking action had exhibited anything more than the aura of Laws from a developed seed or their latent, soul energy-enriched Mystic Power. A genuine, full-fledged authority's difficulty to obtain could be highlighted greatly by this fact.
The majority of Sages didn't have Minor Authorities, even Enlightened Sages were no different. Whether it was the Teng Jiangwen of old or Enlightened Sage Springfield, they were both elites in their stages of cultivation beyond a shadow of a doubt. After all, even the Azure-Prime Galactic Zone's Ascended Sovereigns had given the vagabond face back then, and Sage Springfield was among the top ten experts of the Utmost Purity Galaxy.
Zhan Jiangwen inspected his Spirit of War's Soulguard and found it intact. He heaved a sigh of relief. Dying twice wouldn't feel good.
"Your Majesty...I..."
Zhan Jiangwen knew that he couldn't muster any additional strength in his current state. His Spirit of War's body was on the verge of destruction, and those Sages were observing him keenly for any abnormal movement. They feared a desperate bid for retaliation.
If he self-detonated, the damage would be far too extensive to imagine. The No-Name Galaxy might not recover for tens of thousands of years. That's why the four Sages observing silently were waiting in reserve. They were ready to deal with that outcome and limit the fallout.
Unfortunately for them, their heightened state vigilance was unnecessary. He was spent. The backlash from using the Seven Asura Fists Ascension Art in rapid succession was extensive, and his expended energy was gargantuan. While the Minor Law of Momentum was capable of performing the impossible, exceeding the normal limitations of one's strength by gradual build-up and layering of past successes and future intentions, the energy expenditure was far too great for words.
And doing so forcefully only damaged the body and exhausted the soul. When he was not a Spirit of War, to compensate for this, Zhan Jiangwen focused on expanding his energy reserves through every feasible method. With his inferior foundation, he relied on this simple combination to be feared across the galaxies.
However, while his potential had remained, allowing him to recultivate back to the True Sage Phase with immense resources, his Spirit of War's cultivation base had none of his excessive accumulation of energies and storage potential.
Unbeknownst to Zhan Jiangwen, if he was given a proper ranking within the legion, the quantity of energy of the entire legion would be no different than his! Of course, that required him to be assigned a ranking position!
He could only sigh in disappointment and transmit to the Nexus War Flag,
"...I've faile-what?"
-----
"How is it?"
Sage Nepit transmitted to Sage Pakhet through the spiritual medium, a single grain of spiritual rice, that floated while bobbing by her right ear. It was glistening like a crystal. This spiritual rice was used to send through his Spiritual Spell, contributing heavily to Zhan Jiangwen's defeat backed by the strength of his Major Region.
"..."
Sage Pakhet was not unharmed. She wiped the yellow blood that leaked out the sides of her lips and a single nostril with the back of her right hand. That clash earlier had weakened her Soulguard. If not for the assistance of Sage Nepit and the others, she could have been obliterated by that layered attack.
This Teng Jiangwen was as fearsome as the Oracles and Heavenly Seers had informed them of. Fortunately, they had made ample preparations. Half a dozen defensive, peak Mystic-World talismans and over a hundred various-graded Mystic-World defensive armaments crumbled into nothingness, becoming sparkling dust in the Dark Void.
This vagabond cultivator would have killed her with that attack without a shred of a doubt. Her Soulguard was weakened despite her prepared defenses!
"..."
Sage Nepit could tell that Sage Pakhet didn't wish to talk, her focus entirely on the recently ravaged region of their clash. The disturbed space and time created whirlpools and inconsistent, erratic fluctuations of destructive energies. There were flashes of white, yellow, and tri-colored light. These belonged to Sage Napit, Sage Pakhet, and Zhan Jiangwen's remnant power.
This region would be uninhabitable for tens of thousands of years if it wasn't cleared by Sages or a load of Mystic Overlords.
"I sensed a transmission of some sort,"
Sage Nepit alerted. It was brief, but he had felt something. This discovery had caused his mind and heart to feel an inexplicable sense of trepidation.
Sage Pakhet ignored Sage Nepit. She sensed it too.
"I'm here."
Sage Imentet's alluring voice resounded as she arrived a few thousand miles from Sage Pakhet. While they were outside of her Major Region, she could still draw a substantial amount of power from it, just not all of it. How could she not arrive? If only to ensure that the duo of Sage Pakhet and Sage Nepit didn't try to do anything sneaky.
"We need to capture him and locate where he's sending everything he stole,"
Sage Nepit reminded. It wasn't realistic to think everything that was stolen was kept on his person or in an Internal World. It would be difficult for a Supreme Sage to achieve such a feat given the sheer quantity of materials that had been stolen.
Additionally, there were no signs of Stellar Transit Light going in or out or any signs of hectic movement within any of the three dimensional layers of space-fixed, stable, or chaotic, so it must still be somewhere. No-Name Galaxy...somewhere. At least, that was their best-educated and most reasonable assumption.
"I know,"
Sage Imentet replied as she waved her sleeves. She was truly a world-splitting beauty, enough to cause chaos amongst power men of any generation, and her charm was abundant and fresh. As she flourished her sleeves, she conjured countless grains of black and white sand that resembled a tsunami of a galactic level, capable of engulfing an entire Stellar Region.
She moved and began to manipulate the sand to encapsulate the region of chaos that contained the thief's soul aura, and slammed her two delicately slender hands together in a ferocious boom. A sand sphere formed that could exceed a Supermassive Solar Star in size. The sand then solidified into a single whole, becoming a spherically solid object of black and white.
A cage!
Hidden Desert Prison Ascension Art!
She exhausted thirty percent of her mystic power to execute this art! This art was fabulous! It could slowly siphon innate energies and mystic power!
"Not even an Enlightened Sage will be able to escape, especially with the God Cage of Eight Directions in full effect,"
Sage Imentet commented with a hint of pride in her tone.
"I'll grind down any of his remaining energy and siphon everything except his soul using the-"
BOOM!!
A portion of the spherical cage protruded violently.
"...!"
The three Sages all went silent.
Then-
BOOOOOOM!!!
Like a sandworm blasting through the desert from beneath, a gargantuan, world-sized hole exploded into existence as a figure enshrouded by clear, radiant light slowly floated out of the hole.
Their eyes constricted in sync. Zhan Jiangwen's true form was revealed as he no longer had the shadowy haze and all damage to his Spirit of War's body had been completely undone. They could finally confirm that it was indeed Teng Jiangwen! He had an incredulous look on his face as he observed his fingers and palms with shock and surprise.
Earlier, he had an inexplicable urge to sneeze. It was as if his body was trying to accommodate this newfound infusion of power. It required an odd release...twice.
"That was...just two sneezes..."
With shock rampant in his now-silvery eyes, he lifted his gaze to observe the three Sages and felt as if the world had changed. The three Sages had intricate auras of Law enveloping their Mystic Soul, and their bodies emanated a gaseous-like aura of varying colors. This aura seemed to be expelled yet it was always consistently abundant, as if inexhaustible.
Was this...Soul Perception?!
"Take him down!"
Sage Nepit reacted the fastest.
"...!"
Sage Pakhet immediately unleashed her Mystic Aura that disturbed countless miles of mana and light. She feared her fangs with a ferocious, animalistic gaze as her muscles tightened and her breath was expelled violently. A rumbling lioness roar could be heard, sweeping across the galaxy.
Sage Imentet's eyes widened as she hurriedly shot back. She was more understanding than anyone of the intrinsic properties of her Hidden Desert Prison Ascension Art and how much power she infused into it. It could absorb and siphon energy to fuel itself, and had a heavy resistance to energy-based attacks. Only raw strength could reliably break through it without needing an obscene level of power.
She was like a comet, immediately racing back to her Hidden Desert Major Region.
Zhan Jiangwen's silvery eyes lit with a defiant radiance. He looked toward Sage Imentet's fleeing and exceptional figure and asked casually,
"Where do you think you're going?"