Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

Chapter 352 Settling Debts

Yan Zaizen stopped just short of their skyship. In his right hand was a soul form of a female woman - it was Eshe!

Her eyes were roaring with fighting spirit. Having been entrapped as a soul form for several years, she wanted nothing more than to break free and bite Yan Zaizen’s face cleanly off. Earlier, when Yan Zaizen had given her a taste of freedom, it was to question her about her sister’s skyship. When she saw the skyship before, she even held a hint of ridicule as she knew that wasn’t her sister’s skyship.

She wanted nothing more than for Yan Zaizen to provoke some immense power and get justice so that she can be freed. Even if the other party wanted her for her vital yin or as a slave, she was more than willing as long as Yan Zaizen suffered retribution for his crime against her.

However, after her roaring bout of rage in her soul form, her eyes subconsciously looked forward and became thoroughly speechless!

"Oh, no! He...he found her!" Her thoughts stilled, and her mind was filled with intense fear. Yan Zaizen contained an immense amount of power with his regalia array, so she knew her sister was not his match.

"Sister!!" Esi shouted in horror seeing her sister’s naked soul form laid bare for the world to see. Her eyes were filled with pure rage as she hissed like a vicious domestic cat. Her heavenly aura erupted into a storm.

In her mind, Eshe had experienced some misfortunate and lost her body, but for this man to be so brazen as to freely show her soul form for the world to see was disgusting.

The young man saw this situation, analyzed it a bit, and decided to step up and speak. "What are you doing? Hand her over immediately, and maybe we’ll reward you!"

The Uncle was a little shocked, but his might was still primed for action. He didn’t expect to find Eshe in such a way. It seemed that whatever she experienced during her trials left her in dire straits. He spoke in his uncomfortable voice, "Young man, hand over the woman and we’ll decide from there." Unwilling to appear weak, he stepped up into the air and stood there imposingly as his heavenly might whipped about.

Yan Zaizen looked towards this middle-aged man and turned his head slightly. Then, he shook his head. "I don’t have time for this. It’ll be better if I don’t get delayed any further. While I dislike killing without sufficient cause, your relationship with her will definitely breed some resentment." As he calmly spoke, his voice emanated characteristics of a sovereign and forced all to listen carefully to each syllable.

"I’ll just kill you all and be done with it." Calmly deciding, he waved his hand and a surging flow of heavenly might infused with heavenly essence rumbled forward. It was unstoppable! They could only muster a slight change in expression, and a cut-short-word before all of them besides Esi turned into dust.

Seeing her mother, her uncle, and the young man vanish like dust in the wind with a wave of the hand, her eyes widened.

"You! You!!!" Eshe was enraged, her soul form trying to fight its restraints. However, not that Yan Zaizen had reclaimed his soul cultivation, her soul was even more helpless than before.

Yan Zaizen decided to interrupt, "Don’t worry. You’ll both die even worse deaths." With that, he plucked the air and Esi’s soul form separated from her body and landed next to her sister. Her physical body was still in the middle of processing what had just happened before she was snatched away.

The one thing Yan Zaizen disliked was being used. It brought back memories of the past, and this scar would forever make anyone who wished to abuse or use him for any means maliciously his enemy to death.

On his glabella, a black hole emerged that absorbed the soul forms of those killed. Yan Zaizen was now aware that anyone that he directly kills was drawn to his black hole and consumed for nourishment. It wasn’t something he’d utilized often, as he rarely resorted to directly slaying all those in his paths unless absolutely necessary. However, he knew that killing was going to be a common theme in his life now.

After all, he intended to slaughter his way into Hell if needed!

A grey light was birthed nearby. This grey light formed a figure that seemed to come out of a background. Yri eyes glowed slightly with curiosity, a flash of grey later, she became disinterested in Yan Zaizen’s kills. She just calmly waited.

Yan Zaizen glanced towards her and frowned. "If you want to see if your art is accurate, let’s see." An idea formed in his mind as he looked at two soul forms. As a heavenly cultivator, one needed a Dao to formulate the foundation of their Heavenly Shrines. The stronger their foundation, the higher their limits and potential.

Looking at these two women, his eyes realized they both had original Daos, albeit at the lower-tier. He placed his palm on the surface of Esi’s soul form. An amber-gold light that carried a hint of devilish aura surged forth. When this happened, Yan Zaizen started.

When he first cultivated the art, he felt it was demonic and devilish in its way of progression. However, what does it mean to be devilish? Well, just like the heavens, hell, the body, the soul, and even thoughts, they could all form a path to cultivate. To be devilish is to simply to take a devilish path.

Yan Zaizen furrowed his brow as he sensed the intricacies in the Grand Soul, Dao Heart technique. To cultivate this art, one needed to consume the Dao energy of other Dao’s. This was something unheard of. It was essentially absorbing the energy of someone’s belief or self.

However, when he thought about it, it’s possible the art had a devouring art as its basis. Likely one that related to the strengthening of self-relying on blood, flesh, souls, or other materials cultivated by others. If so, then this aura contained some sense.

"The Grand Soul, Dao Heart was based with the Vampiric Soul Art as one of its foundations," Yri explained without being asked after witnessing Yan Zaizen’s expression. "The Vampiric Soul Art relies on physically absorbing components of the soul to help restore or strength itself. It’s a supportive art for soul cultivators among celestials, but it was outlawed and deemed impure as it would slowly change a person’s soul!"

Yan Zaizen truly started this time, his eyes containing hesitation. The soul carried the Soul Flame which regularly burned within the soul, holding personality, memories, thoughts, and more. The physical body was nothing more than a shell for the soul, and powerful soul cultivators can swap bodies like changing shoes. It was effortless.

A Dao could be the most perfect representation of an individual’s most potent trait or developmental potential, such as his Dao of Sovereign Ascension. It contained hints of one’s true self at its core and couldn’t be faked. A person with a Dao of Greed would be incredibly greedy and be unable to change who they are as they were Greed itself, and only they can create the Dao of Greed.

A manifestation of one’s truest self.

For quite a few people, they never reach a level of intensity where it becomes unchanging and virtually immortal, never dying until your own death! Therefore, many would have to rely on the Dao of others to establish their Heavenly Shrines—Bestowed Daos. Original Daos were very rare in comparison to the sheer amount of cultivators out there.

"Then could..." Yan Zaizen didn’t say it, he slowly pondered on the intricate manner of the Grand Soul, Dao Heart Art. He ruminated on various theories based on his own personal understanding of the Dao, and his eyes flashed brilliantly. The hesitation that lingered evaporated.

"A Dao is different. A Dao is a manifestation of one’s truest self, and this art would be the clashing of two Daos, with the weaker Dao losing out to the stronger Dao. Interesting! Genius!" Yan Zaizen deduced that, as long as his Dao remained firm with the support of his soul, he would be able to easily overcome the original disadvantages of the Vampiric Soul Art!

Because, to say it simply, the Dao wasn’t the Soul. It didn’t contain memories, thoughts, or personality traits. It merely contained an aspect, aspects, or agglomeration of aspects of one’s truest self. It wasn’t a personality trait such as being kind, and then because of tragedy in life, one becomes mean. It was something that would and could never change!

Yan Zaizen had complete confidence within his dao, so he decided to venture fearlessly forward!

The Dao of Esi started to surge about. Yan Zaizen’s palm emitted amber-gold light, and he pierced into her soul. It was like his hand was dipped into water, seamlessly entering without a hint of resistance.

Yri stayed silent, applauding Yan Zaizen silently for his decisiveness and intelligence. As a Disciple of the Indomitable Dao Palace, how could she not thoroughly understand the vital difference between a soul and a Dao long ago? It was actually the very first lesson she learned when she entered.

For Yan Zaizen to come to this conclusion without any support or the wisdom of experts who strived for billions of years to determine this was mind-blowing. If Yri knew this, she wouldn’t just be applauding but be absolutely horrified!

Since cultivating, Yan Zaizen had always been slowly developing his understanding through exploration, and his formerly slow self had thoroughly changed to the point he could come to a conclusion such as this!

To put it into comparison, Yan Zaizen deduced that planets were round with the only proof being the horizon! Something he has only seen and experienced without the help or consult of anyone else!

The Dao of Esi, the Dao of Determination, was gripped by his palm. When it came into contact, the Dao screeched like an animal in its death throes. The Dao of Determination was nothing more than a lower-level Dao. Before the Dao of Sovereign Ascension, what was determination?!

With a clenched, her dao shattered!