Solanky slowly unclenched his fist.
As his fingers opened, a velvet sphere no larger than a child's toy appeared in his palm.
Far away, the Saint Emperor officiator, who had been observing from the shadows, stiffened.
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
"That..."
"A condensed Velvet Cloud of Contamination?"
"Impossible."
"How could someone compress it into such a stable form... and completely suppress its corruption?"
A faint smile appeared on Solanky's face.
He looked at the more than eighty cultivators charging toward him without the slightest hint of panic.
Then...
He crushed the velvet sphere.
The tiny ball burst apart.
A dense velvet mist exploded outward like a raging wildfire, engulfing everything in its path.
Its expansion was so fast that the charging cultivators had no opportunity to retreat.
Most of them had never even heard of the Velvet Cloud of Contamination.
Only transcendent entities truly understood its horror.
Within the entire Beyond Realm, this terrifying resentment existed only within the Forsaken Realm.
The first twenty cultivators caught within the spreading mist suddenly froze.
Then...
Screams unlike anything heard before echoed through the whirlpool.
Their bodies stiffened violently.
Their muscles convulsed.
Every vein bulged beneath their skin.
The remaining attackers abruptly halted.
Even the Peak Entity-Level cultivator among them had collapsed to his knees, screaming in absolute agony.
The horrifying part was not the pain.
It was that every victim remained completely conscious.
Some desperately tore at their own hair.
Others repeatedly slapped themselves with enough force to shatter their own faces.
Others clawed at their skulls as though trying to rip something out from within.
It was as if an invisible force had invaded both their minds and consciousness.
Panic instantly spread.
The remaining sixty cultivators turned to flee.
But Solanky had no intention of letting them escape.
Earlier...
He had already offered them a chance to leave.
None had accepted it.
The velvet mist surged after them.
Within moments, it completely surrounded every fleeing cultivator.
Solanky slowly rose into the air above the crimson fog.
Looking down upon the trapped cultivators, he spoke calmly.
"Devil's World Refinement."
The velvet mist immediately began rotating.
Faster...
And faster...
Until it condensed into an enormous crimson sphere that imprisoned everyone inside.
The trapped cultivators desperately begged for mercy.
Their voices echoed throughout the enclosed space.
Solanky remained unmoved.
He slowly raised his left fist.
Then...
He punched downward.
BOOM!
Inside the velvet sphere, countless gigantic war hammers condensed from the contaminated mist itself.
Every hammer carried faint streaks of black fire dancing across its surface.
Those flames...
Were none other than Solanky's Source-Defying Flames.
This technique had originated from Tanko, the demon Solanky had once battled within the God Realm of an Infinite Source World.
Before leaving the Forsaken Realm, Solanky had returned the Forsaken Horde Nest he had obtained from the Ancient Devil God.
In return, the Forsaken God personally taught him the true methods of controlling the Velvet Cloud of Contamination.
He had also engraved the complete inheritance directly into Solanky's consciousness.
Most importantly...
He taught Solanky how to merge the contamination with any flame he possessed.
The first velvet hammer descended.
CRASH!
It struck a Mid-Stage Entity-Level cultivator directly.
His consciousness was instantly polluted.
His flesh began eroding before everyone's eyes.
Mind...
Body...
Soul...
Every form of energy within him was corrupted simultaneously.
The remaining cultivators watched in complete despair.
Only now did they understand what Solanky had meant when he offered them a chance to leave.
Regret consumed them.
But it was already too late.
The countless velvet hammers suspended overhead began falling like an endless storm.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
There was nowhere to run.
Nowhere to hide.
Several minutes later...
Silence returned.
Every cultivator inside the crimson sphere had been annihilated.
Their bodies...
Their consciousness...
Even the remnants of their existence dissolved into the endless void surrounding the whirlpool.
Sensing more cultivators rapidly approaching, Solanky casually condensed the contamination back into its tiny velvet sphere.
Without leaving behind even the slightest trace of the massacre, he accelerated deeper into the whirlpool.
The Saint Emperor officiator remained frozen.
She had always known the terror of the Velvet Cloud of Contamination.
Yet...
Never in her life had she witnessed someone wield it with such terrifying precision.
Only now did she fully understand.
The old man had concealed far more than his appearance.
His strength...
His identity...
Everything about him remained hidden.
Her curiosity deepened.
She vanished from the whirlpool before reappearing high above Abope City, concealing herself among the clouds as she prepared to observe the coming battle with the city's Saint.
...
As Solanky approached the whirlpool's exit, his spiritual sense immediately detected another ambush.
Several cultivators blocked the passage leading into Abope City.
Without slowing down, he summoned the velvet sphere once again.
The moment it appeared...
The crimson contamination instantly trapped every cultivator.
This time, however...
He did not kill them.
He merely polluted their minds and consciousness.
With a casual flick of his wrist, Solanky threw one of them out of the velvet sphere.
Then he calmly stepped through the whirlpool himself.
The velvet sphere had shrunk until it was no larger than a tennis ball.
Yet within that tiny sphere...
An independent space imprisoned every surviving cultivator.
Agonizing screams continuously echoed from within.
Holding the velvet sphere casually in one hand, Solanky tossed it lightly into the air again and again.
Every toss further stirred the contamination.
The trapped cultivators gradually lost all control over themselves.
The unfortunate cultivator who had been thrown outside lay curled upon the ground.
He desperately pulled at his own hair until blood streamed down his face.
Every expression on his face radiated unimaginable agony.
No one nearby dared approach him.
Participant PE45800RTY stared in horror.
The victim's strength had been comparable to his own.
Watching such an expert reduced to this state sent chills through his heart.
Yet the Saint's orders still had to be obeyed.
With a furious roar, he charged toward Solanky.
Sword in hand.
His speed was astonishing.
But...
Before he could even approach...
A tiny black needle condensed from velvet contamination shot forward.
Its speed surpassed even the Saint Emperor officiator's perception.
The needle pierced directly through PE45800RTY's forehead.
Then it calmly returned and embedded itself upon the surface of the velvet sphere.
The entire exchange lasted less than an instant.
Participant PE45800RTY never even realized he had died.
His body gradually dissolved into particles.
Moments later...
Even his consciousness began fading from existence.
Hidden within the sky, the Saint Emperor officiator felt her heart tremble.
The instant Solanky launched the attack...
She sensed an incredibly subtle fluctuation of spiritual energy.
That fluctuation...
Belonged to a Saint Emperor.
Not only that...
It carried the profound aura of a Peak-Turns technique.
Her breathing became uneven.
"Who..."
"...is he?"
"And why would someone possessing such strength conceal his identity?"
Suddenly...
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
Applause echoed across the battlefield.
An elderly woman stepped forward from the void.
She was the Saint of Abope City.
Solanky calmly turned toward her.
The old saint smiled faintly.
"You eliminated so many cultivators in such a short time."
"I must admit..."
"I am impressed."
"No wonder you are such a gifted alchemist."
Watching from afar, the officiator sighed inwardly.
"This ignorant fool..."
"He doesn't even recognize the Velvet Cloud of Contamination."
"One of the deadliest corruptive forces in the Beyond Realm."
The old saint casually waved her sleeve.
Instantly, the city below shifted away from the battlefield, relocating itself nearer to the massive walls of the Beyond Realm.
Only then did she speak again.
"Now..."
"I can deal with you without involving the innocent citizens of Abope City."
Her sharp eyes narrowed.
"And stop pretending."
"I know this is not your true appearance."
"The alchemist whose identity you borrowed possesses mediocre refining skills."
"They are nowhere near yours."
Solanky chuckled softly.
"You truly are quite perceptive."
"I suppose..."
"This old man should stop hiding."
His disguise slowly disappeared.
The appearance of the elderly hunchback he had borrowed dissolved completely.
The Saint carefully observed him before laughing.
"So..."
"An old Peak Entity-Level cultivator dares challenge a Saint?"
She stretched out one hand.
Space instantly froze.
Layers upon layers of spatial laws wrapped around Solanky, locking him firmly in place.
Solanky deliberately struggled.
Seeing this, the old saint leisurely approached him.
A long whip appeared within her hand.
She smiled coldly.
"This is my city."
"Do you have any final words?"
Instead of answering immediately, Solanky calmly asked,
"The invitation token to the Desolation God's Sect..."
"Is it with you?"
The Saint paused.
The unexpected question surprised her.
Nevertheless, she nodded.
"It is."
"Why?"
A smile slowly spread across Solanky's face.
"Good."
The next instant...
The frail posture vanished.
His bent back straightened with a series of loud cracking sounds.
The humble walking staff in his hand exploded apart before transforming back into the condensed Velvet Sphere.
Solanky casually looked around.
Then...
He took a single step.
Void Shadow Steps.
CRACK!!
The sealed space imprisoning him shattered like fragile glass.
When everyone recovered their senses...
The spot where Solanky had stood was empty.
The Saint froze.
Her subordinates stood speechless.
Even the hidden Saint Emperor officiator's pupils contracted.
High above them...
Solanky now lay comfortably upon the branch of a towering tree, one leg crossed over the other.
The velvet sphere rotated lazily above his fingertip.
His expression remained completely relaxed.
As though everything that had just happened...
Was nothing more than a game.