Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

His shout didn’t elicit any response from the figure, but Pinaka looked down. When she did, a smile blossomed with heaven-eclipsing beauty and radiance. She couldn’t speak verbally, similar to Yan Zaizen, but she mouthed a few words with that smile.

Yan Zaizen’s eyes widened, and his heart trembled. A roar that felt unreal surged in his throat. When it was bellowed out, the heavens quivered and shook violently. This may seem like a random shout of fury, but it actually completed into a single word:

"PINAKA!"

Pinaka held a pearl in her hand, and her body wrapped in the chain was sent into the vortex.

It closed.

The figure seemed intent on vanishing, as it no longer had a reason to remain. It stepped forth and seemed to merge with the world. If it returned from whence it came at this moment, Yan Zaizen had the feeling he would lose everything forever!

"No! STAY!!!" His shout caused a pause, and the figure turned. Its ’gaze’ looked at Yan Zaizen in a similar way it ’looked’ at Dracula, with displeasure.

"I settled for this...you dare...truly I am..." The figure’s habit of not finishing any sentences returned, causing Yan Zaizen’s frustration to increase.

"Fine. Die." The figure waved its fingers that were four and a thumb but felt like thousands. A wave of energy radiated outwards. This wave contained a soul-stirring quality, but it also emanated soul-destroying might! If this wave hit Yan Zaizen, his soul would most definitely vanish!

Yan Zaizen’s pupils constricted.

"Is this it?" Yan Zaizen felt his end near...

A powerful voice resounded, "You must never let fate triumph. Carve your own destiny, start anew. Yet, the past truly cannot be separated." It sounded profound and mysterious, but also utterly incomprehensible to all who heard it. It was as if it was a mixture of seven sentences in three.

However, the figure trembled, its eyes filled with disbelief as it deeply ’looked’ at Yan Zaizen.

His expression was indifferent, the expression of a sovereign emerged and a trace of a crown appeared atop his head. This crown was hazy, but it had a beyond grand feeling to it.

The black holes that were his eyes had disappeared, leaving only amber-gold. He had no pupils or irises, just a sea of amber-gold remained. This gold sea seemed to be burning essence of Yan Zaizen’s shrine to maintain itself.

He stood upright and seemed to cause the heavens to tremble, but oddly, also pull towards him as if it were a child running to its father. "The false, the true, haaa...its truly unfortunate." Yan Zaizen voice was not his own. Instead, it truly felt like words of a king of all. Even its sigh felt as if it was disappointed at fate!

"Yo...you?!" This was the first time the figure was truly in shock.

’Yan Zaizen’ waved his hand. The heavens seemed to answer as a might of untold levels surged, collapsing around the soul-destroying wave. It was as if the heavens were the body, its might was antibodies, and the surging wave was a foreign pathogen. In less time than it takes to blink, the wave dissipated.

’Yan Zaizen’ stepped forward, in an instant, he appeared before the figure with a raised hand and smacked him on the side of his head.

POW!

It was an action that was familiar beyond belief, and it caused the figure to be stunned, unable to think. In truth, it didn’t even exist currently but was an odd entity. In this form, physical things would be unable to interact with it, energy or matter.

Yet, it was smacked.

"Speak in complete sentences," ’Yan Zaizen’ sighed once more after admonishing this figure as if he was a child.

"You... it’s you?!" The figure completely didn’t care about getting smacked; instead, the figure’s voice rose up in volume as if in disbelief and excitement.

"No." Shaking his head, ’Yan Zaizen’ immediately denied. "My time has passed. It’s him." Pointing to himself, he closed his eyes.

The figure shook visibly, obviously realizing the situation from those words. A ’look’ of sadness appeared on its face, but then a look of confusion. "How? You...I..."

’Yan Zaizen’ glared at him; he was still using false starts in his words.

As if unwilling to be glared at, the figure ’looked’ away and tried to articulate its thoughts. "Where’s ’it’?"

’Yan Zaizen’ sighed once more, totaling three times and this sigh contained the vicissitudes of age and exhaustion. "Him." He pointed to himself once more, pushing even deeper until it poked his body.

The figure took a step back, as if out of fear. "How? Wait...is that how he disturbed the ritual...but then?"

"If I didn’t interfere, you would’ve been lost. Your entirety, this avatar, and your true body." ’Yan Zaizen’ stated, but the figure didn’t doubt, only feeling as if it had been saved. An expression of relief marked his ambiguous face.

"Currently, I’ve severed its connection with him. Thoroughly. Eliminating the potential for his soul to further mutate. Unfortunately, if I had allowed you to continue acting, ’it’ would’ve..." Unwilling to continue, he turned away.

Unwilling to hear more, the figure grew silent.

"His destiny will bring him to your domain. Do not hinder." ’Yan Zaizen’ said this and no more. It was as if his eyes had calculated the path of destiny. The figure only ’looked’ solemnly at the figure before him and felt complex emotions. Nodding, he faded and said no more.

When he faded, the souls of all beings resumed.

Yan Zaizen had already returned to normal, his body exhausted and his mind swirling. He felt his body unnaturally empty, and couldn’t help but inspect himself instinctively.

"What?!" His heavenly shrine was still there, but all the heavenly source of mimicry that constructed it had disappeared. It was as if he had ignited his heavenly shrine for power...

In truth, the figure had to draw upon Yan Zaizen’s energy to emerge such as this, thereby eliminating his heavenly cultivation base. Yet, this was something he would never figure out.

Unjustly cursing the figure for stealing what’s his, he calmed himself down.

He had survived.

For now, that was all that mattered.

He recalled Pinaka’s words that were silently mouthed: "You have one hundred years...come for me, Zai." The pearl she held was the one Eloah had given him. Since he didn’t need it, he had given it to Pinaka for protection.

Thinking of Eloah, his expression flickered. "Did he know this would happen?" In the 7th Heaven, Eloah had said the protective talisman might ’come in handy’ and it did. The reason he was so calm right now despite his earlier outburst was his faith, his faith in himself to save Pinaka in one hundred years.

Eloah had told him that faith wasn’t a flaw of the mind, but the strength of the heart. This may not have been meant for him, but said for Pinaka to have faith in him. If so, then...

It’s just unfortunate...

Yet, he had never regretted nor never will he regret his choices. This was his Dao, the very core of it. Live by your choice, die by your choice, lose by your choice, gain by your choice.

Even if he had died today, he would have accepted it. After all, trying to rescue Ezekiel was his choice.

Speaking of, Ezekiel’s soul had awakened in a disorientated state. He was nothing more than a soul and his cultivation had decreased also, but not to the extent of Yan Zaizen, who was at the Advanced Nascent Soul Realm.

His soul was at the Initial Aurora Soul Realm. Sadly, this was all his cultivation. His physical body had been sent elsewhere.

Flying over, Yan Zaizen inspected Ezekiel to see his state. Only after seeing that all was fine, did he sigh in relief. Ezekiel was the only way he knew how to travel through the heavens and other universes at will. With his compass, he should be able to send him to Hell.

For some reason, he felt like no one else would have such thoughts, nor should they.

Ezekiel regained his consciousness and looked about, finding Yan Zaizen not too far away with a cool light in his eyes. It was soul-entrancing, as if he had absolute belief in himself. It held a charisma befitting a sovereign!

"You..." With a little bit of time, he figured out where he was and made an assumption as to what happened. To him, Yan Zaizen interrupted the ritual and Dracula was the only one dragged away. In truth, there were other possibilities, but if Dracula had been in the myriad heavens, he would’ve remained in the Crimson Devil Realm.

After all, his daughter was still here. This was something even Dracula didn’t know Ezekiel knew. The hidden sub-realm in the Crimson Devil Realm!

"Thank you," he was profoundly thankful. If Yan Zaizen hadn’t arrived, his fate would’ve been unimaginable.

However, Yan Zaizen didn’t care about Ezekiel’s thanks or incorrect assumptions, he directly demanded, "I need the compass." Despite his calm, he was still feeling quite urgent. After all, his other half was locked away in Hell with a timer. He couldn’t spare a second.

"..." Ezekiel was silent.

"..."

"..."

"...?"

"I don’t have it." Ezekiel calmly said.

"Where is it?"

"..."

"..."

"If my guess is correct, the Fortune Cemetery."

"Guess?!" An extremely ugly expression emerged on his face. What the hell happened to the compass?!