Shen Yi stood in the center of a vast crater, the air around him warped by residual energy. The sands had melted into a glassy plain that reflected his figure like a mirror.
His aura was still, yet infinitely stretching far beyond mortal comprehension.
The purplish-blue lightning now carried veins of gold and white, flickering between moments like threads of fate. His pupils… they no longer reflected the world; they contained it.
Second Star, Dou Saint Achieved.
He exhaled softly, and even that breath distorted the surrounding void.
The storm clouds disappeared, their thunder fading like the last sounds of a big judgment. The huge desert sky appeared again... clear, endless, and clean. The air was still, except for a faint shimmer of leftover lightning dancing far away.
Shen Yi looked down from the sky, the golden-white lightning slowly going back under his skin. He looked calm and unreadable, but the air around him still gently pulsed with powerful energy... a leftover feeling from someone who had become a Dou Saint.
A faint smile crossed his lips as he turned toward the capsule dome. Zi Yan stood beside it, frozen, staring at him and the devastation around in the desert, her mouth slightly open in disbelief.
"Don't look at me like that," Shen Yi said, his voice calm, layered with quiet amusement. "It's still me… just a little stronger."
Zi Yan blinked, then puffed her cheeks. "Father was right; you are really a monster."
He chuckled while shaking his head, then he walked toward her.
"Let's go," he said softly, turning to Zi Yan, who was still amazed by the glass-like crater left by his power boost. "It's time to visit your Ancient Void Dragon Clan."
Zi Yan blinked, snapping out of her trance. She nodded quickly, her lips opening to speak… but before she could say a word, the empty space above them shook.
A deep vibration moved through the air. The clear sky twisted as cracks opened in space. Heavy pressure poured out like a flood.
Crack! Crack!! Crack!!!
Each crack in space sounded like a collapsing world. Zi Yan's eyes narrowed; even with her dragon blood, her instincts screamed danger.
Then came a voice… old, rough, but full of arrogance.
"My friend… before you go anywhere, explain yourself. What are you doing in the Soul Hall territory?"
The broken space grew wider. From the dark, jagged opening, three figures appeared, stepping down on invisible waves of energy. Their presence alone made the air around them twist.
In the middle floated a bent-over old man in dark red robes with glowing patterns on them… his face was wrinkled like old paper, but his eyes shone with evil cleverness. Black mist curled from his back like ghostly wings.
Behind him stood two Dou Saint helpers, their powers weaker but still strong enough to make the desert shake.
Zi Yan was startled. "Saints… all of them," she whispered, her voice tight, looking at them with vigilance.
Shen Yi also stared at them. His flickering pupils reflected the three figures, calm but sharp like knives.
'Saints from the Hun Clan. I have met them earlier than I thought.'
He didn't need to guess how… they had probably felt the strange atmosphere changes from his power boost. The Hun Clan's soul-sensing skills could find the smallest oddity from hundreds of miles away.
'They are really like rats,' his thought flashed, 'Always coming out when they sense something interesting.'
The old man smiled thinly, his voice a slow whisper.
"You must be the one who caused the disturbance in this old land of ours. I am Hun Mo, Guardian of the Hall of Souls."
He looked at the faint hourglass shining in Shen Yi's hand. A quick flash of greed, quickly hidden, appeared in his eyes.
"That treasure in your hand… It belongs to my Hall of Soul. I suggest you return it. Now."
Zi Yan stepped forward, anger burning in her golden eyes. "Liar! That... "
But before she could finish, Shen Yi raised his hand. "Stay back," he said softly, without looking at her. His tone was so strong that the air itself seemed to stop moving. Zi Yan bit her lip and stepped aside while looking at Hun Mo coldly.
Shen Yi floated up until he was at the same height as Hun Mo. A small smile appeared on his lips.
"'Belongs to your Hall of Soul,' you say?" His voice was quiet but cut through the air like thunder. "Then tell me… when did the heavens start writing your name on every treasure born from them?"
Hun Mo's smile disappeared, and he gave him an intimidating look. "You dare make fun of the Hall of Soul?"
"I make fun of what deserves it," Shen Yi replied as lightning began to gather silently around his body, faint black, blue, white, and golden arcs moving across his skin. The desert below rumbled, as if the land itself was scared of what was about to happen.
Hun Mo raised his hand. His two helpers immediately showed their power, dark soul-energy filling the sky in waves of crushing force. The temperature dropped sharply; the light grew dim.
"Capture him alive," Hun Mo ordered coldly. "I want to capture and search his soul, and see how many secrets he possesses."
The two Saints disappeared instantly.
A blur of shadows shot towards Shen Yi from both sides, their attacks perfectly timed, silent, and deadly. But Shen Yi didn't even move his hands.
He simply turned his head slightly… and the air behind him exploded.
BOOM!
A pillar of blue-white lightning shot into the sky, cutting through space like a divine sword. Both Saints froze in the middle of their attack, their bodies shaking violently.
For a moment, they saw countless golden grains of sand swirling around them… time itself twisting.
Their movements slowed… and then stopped completely.
...
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