Earth immortals, also known as false immortals, varied greatly in strength. Some were stuck at the level of strength as transcending mortality sages, while others might master a law and rival immortal monarchs in strength. Sabercrusher was not one who rivaled an immortal monarch, but his strength allowed him to fight a few hundred rounds with a true immortal at least.
Primeworm had always known that Sabercrusher was powerful. The two were rivals and had fought hundreds of rounds with an equal number of defeats and victories. It was why both of them were chosen to guard the outer gates of the core of the imperial palace for Soul Immortal Starsoul.
It is often said that those who failed the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation had no future and were doomed to perish, but that is not true. Earth immortals have no futures because their soul constantly disintegrates and is absorbed by the world as nourishment, but they have a sliver of hope.
Nothing is impossible.
Just as a cultivator who had their spiritual core shattered could reform another one if they had the right materials, earth immortals could also cultivate once more. It was just that, unlike reforming a shattered spiritual core, earth immortals need to find a method to stop their soul from disintegrating, even for just a moment, so that they could commit suicide and send their soul into the cycle of reincarnation.
Sabercrusher and Primeworm were both earth immortals, but they hadn't given up hope yet. They knew that the Buzhou Immortal Sect's treasury stored all kinds of rare and precious materials. If the plan succeeded, they would be able to seek a chance for immortality once more.
They were the bitterest enemies, the closest friends, and one half of each other. And now, half just died.
Being an earth immortal did not mean the same survivability as a venerable. Rather, because they failed the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, earth immortals were easier to kill than venerables because of the unstable state of their souls. If they met a decently powerful soul cultivator, their defenses were practically laughable, but against head-on confrontations, they were never afraid against those of equal or lower realm.
But now, Tianyi one-sidedly crushed that confidence.
Primeworm felt sweat drip down his cheek as he watched the light disappear from Saber crusher's eyes. He felt a range of emotions from shock, sadness, rage, and fear, but mostly fear. Unlike Sabercrusher, Primeworm was a spiritual cultivator, so his body was even weaker. His only chance of survival was to keep his distance while bombarding Tianyi with long-range attacks, hoping that Tianyi range attacks weren't as powerful as his fist.
He knew the chances were slim. When Tianyi first appeared, it shocked both Primeworm and Sabercrusher. Even though the Buzhou Immortal Sect disciple was in front of them, they couldn't detect him at all. Not even a mortal was imperceptible. However, they attributed that to some artifact Tianyi was carrying.
Still, Primeworm knew that the Sword Empress's son had not used qi in that punch because there was no fluctuation. What was a cultivator's greatest strength? Some may say their cultivation, their mastery of concepts, but the foundation of that was qi. Since Tianyi didn't even need qi to kill Sabercrusher, how powerful would he be once he used it?
Primeworm even suspected that Tianyi wasn't Tianyi at all but a true immortal or immortal monarch pretending to be Xi Mengfei's son. However, he didn't have time to ponder the question at all as all his focus was on escaping his dilemma and calling reinforcements.
Primeworm threw five offensive talismans at Tianyi and leaped onto his flying sword to gain some distance, but like a juggernaut, Tianyi just bulldozed through the talismans and ignored them as he would to flies.
"Shi—!"
Primeworm never had the chance to finish as Tianyi's fist demolished his head.
"Ew, so much brain goo and bone bits," Tianyi said in disgust. He may have killed several people before, but never as gruesomely as bursting their bodies. After taking a second to fling the blood off his hand and sleeves, Tianyi continued to the core of the imperial palace.
Time was of the essence.
The front entrance to the core palace was already demolished from Tianyi's first attack. He didn't expect such an overwhelming victory. For his second attack, he controlled it so that there wouldn't be so many aftershocks.
"Who goes ther—!"
Another punch, another dead enemy. Tianyi's speed was so fast that all that could be heard was a gush of wind and the sound of shattered tiles. If the venerables were lucky and were killed immediately, they might have a chance to resurrect themselves, but earth immortals weren't so lucky.
"Tch, they've already started erecting the defensive formations," Tianyi grumbled as he increased his speed. Inside his robe, Shujing was desperately clinging onto Tianyi. One small mistake would send her and Daoyi's nascent careening out.
Tianyi wasn't privy to the method the Xi Emperor used to protect the core of the imperial palace, but he knew that they shouldn't have been so spectacular. Mengfei wasn't one to do everything either. At most, she would grant one defensive formation to protect the Xi Emperor at a critical time.
"This might be a bit troublesome," Tianyi uttered as the red dot on his forehead turned to gold once more. "Manifold Space Trapping Formation?"
As the name suggested, the Manifold Space Trapping Formation was a sealing formation that focused on spatial aspects. The unique aspect of it was the locks used to seal the target. It was akin to using a three-dimensional prison to lock a two-dimensional being. As such, it was one of the top hundred sealing formations.
Even if Tianyi could use qi, he had no confidence in understanding and deconstructing the formation, so he only had one other option left, break it using brute force!
Tianyi's body was a cosmos, and that included all the weight and mass that came along with being a cosmos compressed into a humanoid form. It was still fine before when Tianyi could use qi to lighten his weight, or in Jade Peak where the ground was just harder, but once outside? Every step would leave an indent in the ground, but it was then that Tianyi developed internal gravity control and learned the concept of gravity.
The Concept of Gravity was powerful and could rival a true law if mastered, but the Concept of Gravity was faulty. To be precise, what is called gravity is actually the attraction to matter, but that was neither here nor there. Point is, Tianyi could control his internal gravity, and the simple application of the force of his sheer mass was deadly beyond thought.
Tianyi leaped into formation and fully unleashed the unrestrained mass of a cosmos. What do you get when you launch a human-size cosmos cannonball at a seal?
CRAAAAAASSSSSHHHHHHH
Tianyi looked at the crumbling architecture around him. "Well, if they didn't notice me before, they sure noticed me now."
Not just in his surrounding but in the distance as well. To create the Manifold Space Trapping Formation, you needed certain anchors to stabilize and lock it into place, and now because Tianyi forcibly broke the formation, those anchors were also destroyed or dislocated. Not just that, but Tianyi could sense that several formations that were beginning to be constructed were also disrupted or destroyed midway with his third eye.
It was a happy accident.
Tianyi had no time to marvel at his handy work as he rushed towards where Daoyi and Xi Ri's bodies were being held captive. Thanks to his earlier actions, it seemed that the seal restricting Daoyi and Xi Ri was loosened, allowing Daoyi's nascent soul to pinpoint the location even more accurately.
After piles of bodies later, Tianyi arrived at the prison. The prison was a pillar-like tower that stretched towards the sky, made from slate-colored stone. Tianyi's third eye could discern that they were some sort of qi-restricting material.
'Good thing that I can't externalize qi!' Tianyi sarcastically thought before punching a new entrance into the tower.
Once inside, Tianyi saw a guard turning to face him in shock. Obviously, he was paying attention to the actual entrance, but he never expected Tianyi to go off script and just make his own door. A second later, he was just another addition to Tianyi's list of dead enemies.
'I think I killed more today than I've ever had in my entire life,' Tianyi thought to himself. It was just a thought, and his heart was still as tranquil as ever as he continued his warpath.
"We're here."
Tianyi heard Daoyi's voice and changed his trajectory. Breaking open the door, he saw Daoyi's body and Xi Ri hanging midair side-by-side, sealed within formations. Guarding them were two shadowy figures, Tianyi recognized them as specters, a hallmark of the Nihility Sect. Tianyi felt they were a bit troublesome.
Specters were soul lifeforms, and, as such, regular physical attacks didn't work on them. Still, Tianyi had to try. Wasting no time, the tiles beneath his feet shattered as his figure disappeared. When they reappeared, he was already next to one of the specters and unleashed a punch.
It was as if something had taken a bite where Tianyi's fist had passed. The specter began to writhe on the ground and released sounds that resembled grating steel, obviously in pain. Tianyi was surprised by the result, but he quickly shifted to the second specter and performed a lariat, bisecting the second one in half.
After making sure both of the specters were incapacitated, Tianyi broke the formations sealing Daoyi's split soul and Xi Ri.
"Thank you," Xi Ri said. His face was pale, but there was an unwavering look in his eyes.
At this time, Shuijing also crawled out of Tianyi's robes, causing him to shiver. He had almost forgotten that disgusting thing was in his robes. "Are you going to enter your body now?"
Daoyi's nascent soul atop of Shuijing shook her head. "Not now. I don't know if they placed any traps on my body. Plus, I've been separated from it for so long that it would take at least a week before I can familiarize myself with my body again. Better store it in the Vast Heaven Islands for now."
Tianyi nodded and commanded Dandan to come out and suck Daoyi's body into the Vast Heaven Islands. Next was Xi Ri's turn, but he refused, surprising Tianyi.
"I still have to save Emperor-Father." Xi Ri said.
"He's not trapped in his body?" Tianyi said with some surprise. During cases of possession, the soul would either be destroyed or swallowed. In this case, if the Xi Emperor died, then Mengfei definitely would know, so his soul shouldn't have been extinguished yet. Still, extricating a soul was a non-standard procedure.
Tianyi nodded. Xi Ri had already been explained what the plan was, so he ordered Dandan to follow Xi Ri and Daoyi's nascent soul to save the Xi Emperor. Meanwhile, it was his part to act as the decoy and cause as much devastation as possible.
After they left, Tianyi stared at the two specters on the ground. As soul lifeforms, their advantages were great, but so were their disadvantages. There was a reason why souls lived in bodies, after all. Crouching down, Tianyi placed one of his hands on the first specter and started absorbing it.
'I knew it.' Tianyi thought as he saw his success. After experimenting for a bit, Tianyi realized that he could still absorb external energy and add it to his inner cosmos. 'Can I still absorb spiritual qi?'
Tianyi thought. Perhaps in the past, he could absorb spiritual qi, but he could never detect. Wanting to test it, Tianyi rotated his inner cosmos and set on to absorb the spiritual qi.
CRACKLE!!!
The instant Tianyi did, angry tribulation clouds gathered above the tower as if finally discovering its nemesis after years of searching. There was no build-up, only instant punishment as the largest bolt of tribulation lightning Tianyi had ever faced struck him.
The prison tower was destroyed, and all that remained was a soot-faced Tianyi standing straight. His gold coronet was cracked and his purple robes dirty, but otherwise, he was fine. "Hello again."