Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

The old captain, the one at the forefront of this killing aura that could cause gods and demons to frown, had the most changes as three wings appeared on the left side of his body. These wings were skinny, like bat wings, but purely black in color. If they were in the dark, they’d be impossible to see!

The wings were also uneven, with the top being the longest and the bottom being the shortest. They flapped ever so slightly, and as they did, the surrounding air seemed to wail in misery and pain, as if being brought to death! If Yan Zaizen were here, he would be startled massively! Despite comprehending the laws of death, this event exceeded his comprehension by a mile!

The wails were like dying ghosts and demons in the throes of their end, truly fearsome. However, amidst these wails was a very sharp keening. It was like the cry of the sword was intermixed, giving the cries a sharpness that could cut away all things, including life itself.

Park Ji-Hu fended off the attack with his fist. He frowned slightly, "Yeomna Empire’s Venerable Ghost Blade?!" This title, this Daoist name, caused him to tremble slightly in his heart. There was a hint of fear, wariness, and confusion in his eyes. After all, this territory was within the Oneuli Empire, why would such a high-level figure appear here?

The Yeonma Empire was known for their inherent savageness and near insane desire for combat. In their doctrine of belief, the closer they come in contact or induce death increased their strength. This belief created innate warriors born drenched in the fresh blood of others.

Because of this, they were often at odds with the other three Empires within the Dusk Zone.

Even if the Oneuli Empire and Yeomna Empire were at constant war, as the latter was known for fighting and killing, but this was incredibly sudden and truly without any rhyme or reason!

As those words resounded, the old captain’s, no, Venerable Ghost Blade’s killing intent skyrocketed into the sky. As if matching Park Ji-Hu’s words, he roared, "Wither Night!" Then, with a blade as black as night within his hand, he shot forth another beam of energy. As if this was only the beginning, he shouted directly afterward, "Form the grand formation!"

The crew members roared, their life aura was converted into a storm of death. The bodies of several dozen crew members, all of which fused together into one pure whole! This caused, not just Park Ji-Hu, but every last person on the Onueli’s skyship to be startled. The reason for that was...each of these crew members auras were, at the very least, at the Seventh-Floor of the Heavenly Genesis Realm. Every last one of them was Heavenly Commanders!

The grey-robed woman was shocked by the sudden battle to the death, grabbing the frozen Yaoguai, she retreated a safe distance in a literal blink of an eye. As she was now safe, she decided to spectate. "To initiate such a formation...these people are maniacs..."

The formation set up by the crew was a bizarre, almost self-harming formation that consumed life force, combined Heavenly Shrines, and created a profound composition that could be considered evil! All life in the surrounding area of a thousand kilometers were affected, which slowly caused all things to experience a state of perimortem.

The air, the grass, the rocks, and anything that could be considered to be "alive" or have a minute chance of becoming sentient and begin cultivating was put into death at its nascent form. From henceforth, no type of life would be able to grow from these things.

Park Ji-Hu clenched his teeth. Venerable Ghost Blade was a (Minor) Heavenly Creation Realm expert, much like himself, but he could be said to be at the peak of this. To put it quite simply, he wasn’t his match. While he may be able to fend for himself, relying solely on defense to survive, to actually win or kill would be impossible.

This didn’t even include the formation that was like a storm of death, slowly condensing into some form of an object. As for his crew? They were powerful, but even if all the members, of which were several hundred, were gathered together, they wouldn’t be able to match a tenth of that formations power. After all, they weren’t formed for war.

He wanted to say something, but he knew that trying to open a dialogue with the death dealers that were the Yeomna Empire men were as futile as an ant trying to kill an elephant. Their only choice would be to retreat! With a sigh, he stepped back.

"Activate the formation! Retreat!" As he shouted his orders, the crew members on the Oneuli vessel heaved sighs of relief as they worked with two hundred percent efficiency.

Venerable Ghost Blade roared, unwilling to let any of them escape. He grasped towards the storm of death and viciously clenched his fist! However, his fist didn’t clench all the way. Despite it being empty, it was as if he had an object gripped between his fingers. The formation that was slowly revving up begun to rapidly condense until it turned into a beam of light. This beam of light landed solidly within his clenched fist.

This was the life essence of all his crew members held in his literal palm!

It shifted into shape, forming a blade longsword with an inner white core that floated within it like liquid. "Since you’re here...Stay!" He roared. With a step, he blazed towards the Oneuli Skyship with an absolute heavenly momentum! This sword held the life essence of his entire crew, of dozens of Heavenly Commanders who could live for hundreds of thousands of years! This sword contained tens of millions of life force within and the foundations of all their heavenly shrines! It was absolutely frightening.

"It seems those who chase may have to leave their lives behind," the grey-robed woman chuckled softly at all this. This was the prime example of unexpected escalation! However, to her, it was an absolutely pleasant surprise. She was more than happy to watch a slaughter. Unfortunately...

"Wait, Venerable Ghost Blade!" When this voice sounded, it gave off an odd feeling as if time had come to a sudden stop. Even Venerable Ghost Blade halted momentarily as his momentum seemed to have been decayed ever so slightly. He frowned, but his killing intent still permeated the air with a brutal savageness.

A young man with silver skin, three horns atop his forehead, and emerald eyes that shimmered with a captivating light. He donned an elegant black robe with a silver skull on his chest. This silver skull was lifelike, as if it looked about every so often like a newborn child. On his face was a smile, coupled with his devilish looks inherent with his races would invoke feelings from any race of any sex.

This was Yi Seo-Jun!

"Non-Entity." One word. All this young man said was one word, and the killing intent within Venerable Ghost Blade’s aura vanished as quickly as it came, replaced with a calmness so terrifying it was eerie.

"Yi Seo-Jun..." Venerable Ghost Blade slowly whispered, his grip on the sword containing the life essence of his entire crew tightened as he silently contemplated various matters.

However, the grey-robed female’s eyes narrowed as a light of realization donned on her. Turning towards the Yaoguai, her eyes flickered with traces of mysterious light.

"Venerable Ghost Blade, I do not know why you’re in our territory, nor do I care. In fact, I believe you intended to avoid being known altogether." Yi Seo-Jun softly said, as if uncaring of Venerable Ghost Blade, a peak (Minor) Heaven Creation Realm expert, staying in his backyard for unknown reasons. "I can swear an oath to the heavens that your appearance here and other information relating to you being here won’t be spoken by me, or anyone here, for a hundred thousand years."

"You...?" Confused, Venerable Ghost Blade’s eyes narrowed at his words. Saying this, doing this, was tantamount to betraying your empire in its entirety. It wasn’t just short of negligence, it was definitely in line with supporting the enemy directly! If this was known, who knows what...

However, this caused him to seriously contemplate the one word: "Non-Entity."

The importance of this word was rather incredible. Firstly, it was impossible for one to be born in the Heavenly Origin Grounds. Secondly, due to special matters, a Non-Entity was a legendary existence that only existed in the Thirty-Three Heavens and would never allow themselves to come here. Lastly, no one who has the body of a Non-Entity would ever arrive in the Heavenly Origin Grounds unless they were courting death!

However, that wasn’t the reason why he stopped. A Non-Entity was irrelevant due to their obscene rarity within the Heavenly Origin Grounds. The reason he stopped had to do with this young man before him, Yi Seo-Jun. If he was intent on fighting to the death, he wasn’t sure if he could even do so! That was because of this man’s identity!

The Crown Prince of the Oneuli Empire!!!

If it was a normal Oneuli Empire’s skyship, then kill them all without mercy! if there was the slightest chance their location or existence might be revealed, but...if it was the Crown Prince of the Oneuli Empire, they had to think thrice and then thrice once more before taking action. This was because of his backing, his trump cards, and his sheer wealth!

If someone told him that the Oneuli Empire’s Crown Prince would have nothing against an expert at his cultivation level, he would spit in their face and walk away. With a father whose strength reigned in the peak, a trace of Origin Power bestowed casually could turn him into dust! Quite literally...

"In return?" However, he was an old monster and knew that the crown prince likely had a reason to offer such treasonous conditions.

With a calm smile, Yi Seo-Jun responded, "In return, you’ll do the same."

"..." Venerable Ghost Blade was silent for quite a while. A stalemate formed between the two. In truth, this would be the best for both sides. With this, his operation could be considered still active, whereas the prince could cause his mission to become a definite failure.

"Mhm," nodding in acceptance of these terms. If both sides were to go all out in a fight, perhaps Venerable Ghost Blade could waste a trump card of the Crown Prince, but if he did, it’d alert his father, and he was confident the prince didn’t wish for his actions to be known. However, if he did refuse, perhaps he would die right here and right now as a means to silence immediately.

"Then, let’s." Yi Seo-Jun said with a contented smile.