The carnage within the Golden Palace was coming to an end. The once-arrogant, powerful officials had had their souls and bodies reduced to nothingness by the Netherworld's scorching flames. Xiao Wuchen stood beside a shattered dining table piled high with skulls. The demonic sword, 'Rootless', was in his right hand, rhythmically pumping through his veins and absorbing the lingering fear in the air.
'Grandpa! Dear Grandfather! Look at that movement, that power! It's like a demon god descending to Earth!" Meanwhile, Chi Kui was frantically rummaging through the still-warm ashes, its three hands working in a specific order: one rapidly stuffing fragments of immortal crystals into a sack, another constantly holding a small, charred white flag, and a third wielding a rusty fire poker.
Xiao Wuchen glanced coldly at it, the 'Heartless Lock' on its spine trembling slightly. A line of chilling red text appeared on the system panel:
[System Log: Low-level demonic creature detected. Removal recommended to maintain synchronization rate." 'Wait! Don't kill me! I have a use for you!' As if sensing the intent to kill, Chi Kui's six eyes instantly shrank to pinpoints. It lunged to the ground and pointed with its mechanical finger to a spot beneath the floor tiles. 'There's a "smell" under this palace! Not the stench of decay, but the smell of the 'straws' used by those hypocritical cultivators to extract souls!' Although Chi Kui was just a patched-up Asura mongrel, its limited knowledge of the demon realm had given it the strange ability to identify these parasitic formations. 'Those bastards in the Upper Realm treat the mortal world like farmland!' it boasted, trembling. This grand hall is buried beneath a Myriad Souls-Tethering Array, and the so-called Heavenly Spiritual Root has been inserted into the array's core. Look at the cracks in these floor tiles. The flow of spiritual energy is wrong — it's 'reverse-flowing' towards the Earth's core!'
Xiao Wuchen closed his eyes, instantly penetrating the earth's layers with his 95% perception. Sure enough, deep within the imperial city, countless transparent threads were frantically churning; each one was entwined with the agonising cries of mortals.
As Xiao Wuchen was a 'Rootless Person', this array, which could instantly drain a cultivator's spiritual energy, appeared to him as a transparent decoration.
'Right here.' Xiao Wuchen's right hand tightened suddenly and the demonic sword, 'Rootless', erupted with a destructive wave.
[Curved Moon Slash – Tenth Form: Extreme Moon Fall].
Rather than descending from the sky, this strike cleaved downwards with tremendous force. The sword's pressure, coupled with the distortion of gravity, shattered the Golden Palace's thick foundation, along with its protective array. The entire palace sank instantly, revealing a dark, rune-covered underground cavity.
At the centre of the cavity was a massive sphere of light composed of countless rune chains that emitted a ghastly white glow and imprisoned the souls of thousands of imperial guards and civilians.
'Host, please note: attempt to recall the bonds of the first part has been detected. Immediate emotional excision is recommended,' the system's warning echoed shrilly in Xiao Wuchen's mind.
At the very core of the sphere of light, Xiao Wuchen could make out a faint yet resilient glimmer—the phantom of his mentor. Despite his divine consciousness being refined and fragmented, he remained kneeling with his hand on his sword.
'Teacher...?' Xiao Wuchen staggered, his 'Unwilling Soul' pounding wildly in his heart as he desperately resisted the system's cold commands.
'Damn it! Those bastards from the Immortal Sect are truly ruthless!" Chi Kui jumped into the deep pit, covering half of his head with the iron patch. 'They're using the old general's military spirit as a stabiliser for the formation! Sir, if you remove this 'thorn', the formation will collapse. However, this remnant soul has already merged with the formation's core. If you forcibly sever it, the old general's soul will completely dissipate!'
As he spoke, he pulled a bottle of eerie, purplish-black liquid from under his arm. 'However, I have a bottle of "Soul Transfer Dew", a speciality of the Demon Realm. Although it has expired, if you combine it with your Netherflame, which burns karma, it might be able to peel off this remnant soul.' "
Xiao Wuchen silently watched the remnant soul as the Heavenly Remnant Seal on his left arm continuously absorbed the fear and rage emanating from the surrounding array.
'Chi Kui, make your move.' Xiao Wuchen's voice was devoid of emotion, but the Nether Flames around him were already boiling over. 'If you can't save him, I'll sew you into this array's eye.'
Chi Kui's mechanical hand trembled violently with fear and he cried out, "All right! I'll fight to the death! If I succeed, sir, you must reward me with two top-grade immortal crystals!"
Within the underground cavity, a ghastly white sphere of light pulsated violently, resembling a throbbing malignant tumour stitched together from countless souls. Xiao Wuchen stood before the array's core, the demonic sword 'Rootless' in his right hand, sensing the familiar, faint auras of the First Division's subordinates. The cybernetic runes on the sword emitted a sharp, high-frequency shriek due to extreme resonance.
'Master, hold on tight! Although this Soul-Shifting Dew can soften the Immortal Gate's chains, without your Netherflame's precise trimming, the old general's soul will be torn to shreds by the array's recoil.' Chi Kui's three hands trembled as if he were fluffing cotton. He unscrewed the bottle containing the eerie, purplish-black liquid, held his breath and violently splashed it onto the kneeling remnant soul.
The moment the demonic potion touched the Immortal Gate's array, the dark red sphere of light emitted an intense glow in an attempt to repel the invading demonic energy.
'Now!' Xiao Wuchen closed his eyes tightly, the system interface on his retina refreshing frantically.
[System log: 'Body as Array' overclocking mode activated, synchronisation rate 95%. Netherflame Activity: Boiling (50%, Truth Damage loaded)."
Xiao Wuchen drew his sword. Rather than a grand, sweeping attack, this strike compressed the sharpness of the Demon Sword's "Rootless" to a fraction of an inch.
Arc Moon Slash – First Form: Crescent Moon Soul Hook. The sword energy, like an imperceptible black thread, precisely wove through the cracks corroded by the Crimson Elixir. Meanwhile, Netherflame followed the sword energy and attached itself to the causal chains imprisoning the remnant soul. Rather than burning the soul, it utilised its ability to "specifically burn divine consciousness and causality" in order to sever the parasitic connection between the remnant soul and the array's core.
Just as his mentor's soul was about to escape from the core of the array, a terrifying crack suddenly appeared in the previously calm void.
"You wretch! How dare you destroy the foundation of my immortal sect!'
A majestic, cold and authoritative voice boomed from the ground and a golden-robed phantom slowly emerged from the void — a remnant of Elder Tianxing's will from the Upper Realm, who controlled the laws of punishment and was responsible for eradicating the rebellious 'troublemakers' of the mortal world.
A giant golden hand descended from the sky, carrying an aura powerful enough to suppress mountains and rivers, and aimed directly at Xiao Wuchen's crown.
'Master! Be careful! It's that damned old man Tianxing!' Chi Kui shrank his head into his stomach in fright, frantically waving small white flags with three of his hands while desperately protecting the half-extracted remnant soul with his remaining hand.
Faced with the pressure of an Immortal Venerable, Xiao Wuchen's body creaked under the strain and the red warning from the system almost obscured his vision.
[System warning: array load 88%, body on verge of collapse.] [Host detected resisting pressure of Heaven's Dao; immediate severing of emotions recommended to save life.]
"Shut up..." Xiao Wuchen gritted his teeth and roared. The 'Unwilling Soul' in his heart erupted with brilliant light. This was the bond of the fallen generals from the beginning of the story, which granted him the state of 'automatic success of willpower judgement'.
He didn't retreat; he went against the tide instead.
'You haven't paid this debt yet!' Instead of retreating, Xiao Wuchen advanced, his left arm's 'Heavenly Remnant Seal' frantically absorbing the fear value brought by the 'Heavenly Punishment Clone', transforming it into monstrous demonic energy. He swung his right hand at the demonic sword symbiotically linked to his blood vessels. The sword energy transformed into countless black threads, locking the surrounding void and hindering the 'Heavenly Punishment Clone's' giant hand.
[Arc Moon Slash – Ninth Form: Lonely Moon Locks the Heart]
"Chi Kui! Take him away!'
Seizing the moment when the Heavenly Punishment Clone was imprisoned in the void, Chi Kui unleashed his full potential. He stretched out three hands and, with a combined effort, carefully placed his old mentor's fragmented soul into a specially made soul urn.
[System notification: First Subordinate — Mentor's Fragmented Soul Recovered.
After the battle, Xiao Wuchen knelt on the ground, gripping the demonic sword 'Rootless' in his right hand. The sword trembled uncontrollably. He looked at the soul urn in Chi Kui's arms; a strong emotional fluctuation flashed in his eyes, which had previously been numb. This caused the stability of the system's formation to decrease further, but a murderous smile appeared on his lips.