He took hold of the vines, then focused on the manifestation of fire. Immediately, a raging and terrible heat rose out of his body, beginning to swelter the tree. In a matter of seconds, a large heatwave had formed around the tree, with Yuan Zhen fine on the inside.
He did not even feel the slightest warmth. The leaves began to become crisp before slowly igniting.
What shocked him, however, was that the flame was a dull purple, almost pure black. According to his knowledge, such a flame was considered of an insanely high quality. As soon as the first leaf caught on fire, the entire tree was rapidly engulfed and vanished into smoke and ash.
With a thought, Yuan Zhen had robbed the Beast Race of one of their most valuable resources. He stood atop the remnants of the tree, brows furrowed in a deep, resentful glare.
"You were a tool, nothing more. Such is life. You served your purpose, then were disposed of."
Yuan Zhen closed his eyes and walked off.
He found it strange, though, that no Beast Nobles had shown up after all that time. His brows furrowed, but his eyes remained closed.
He took this opportunity to begin building towards the next big step in his unique cultivation.
He was planning to build up his soul. From what he could tell, the closest humans had ever come to emulating the power of the soul were motion sensors. Even they were barely comparable to the power of the soul, but they were the closest possible.
However, humans had theories on how to perfect motion sensors and just couldn't act on them. Technology was far too limited in its advancement.
Using his own knowledge, he first decided his next major step would be to train his soul properly. He closed his eyes, relying on his soul to see in order to gauge his current capabilities.
The image of the forest around him was darker, but still clear enough. At that point, his perception spread out for a half mile in every direction.
His soul's perception would become increasingly sharper the more he did this. Yuan Zhen took a few hours to stroll toward the western end of the forest, expecting to find a massive Pagoda standing by itself.
What he sensed with his soul caused him to forget his goal and open his eyes. In a valley beyond the forest, the pagoda stood just as he remembered. However, there was now a bustling city around it.
Tall walls stood along the borders, with guards stationed along them. As Yuan Zhen exercised his energy to empower his vision, he saw the many armored soldiers with weapons in hand.
They kept a close eye on who came in and out of the city from atop the walls. There were even guards at the gates performing inspections. Looking closely, he saw a mixture of beast and human entering the city.
A shallow smile crept up on his face. He licked his lips, then looked toward the top of the pagoda.
"King Xie. It seems you established trade with the humans. A pity you worked so hard for me to come wreck it."
He took a deep breath and leapt into the air, descending into the valley. As he was making his way down, he decided to try something new. Using his spiritual perception, he performed a deep inspection of the material that made up one of his manifestations.
The two curved horns were made of some unknown element, and he found that he could draw it out in very tiny amounts.
So tiny, in fact, that he could bring forth tiny thread-like amounts of the material.
With a thought in mind, he summoned the thread and crafted some new clothes with it. In a matter of seconds, he created a new suit of clothing for himself that appeared on his body. It was as if the clothes appeared out of thin air.
A silver tunic, black trousers and a garnet colored shawl that wrapped around his neck.
He chose to remain barefoot, resulting in a strange, and somewhat comical, overall appearance.
He arrived on one of the roads to the city, walking along through the valley. This was more than a simple beaten path, but a road with inlaid bricks. Even the grass near it seemed to have been tended to. The surroundings were bright and peaceful, with abundant blood-colored grass and trees as far as the eye could see.
Both mountains on either side of the valley stretched to the sky, just barely piercing the clouds.
"Oi, you there!"
Suddenly, someone shouted from behind him.
He turned around to find a large group of individuals, each of them wearing similar blue robes and light armor. When he gave them a closer look, his eyes flashed with a deep blood-red light, emitting a chilling pressure that vanished swiftly.
The man that had called out to him felt his body become tense for a moment.
"What, human?" Though he appeared to be inquiring, Yuan Zhen's tone was vicious and hostile.
The man frowned when he heard how Yuan Zhen addressed him." Listen, friend, it's been more than a century already. Get over it and stop with the racism, okay?"
Yuan Zhen's eyes widened in shock, but not at the fact that it had been more than a century since his death.
'What did this human just say to me?'
'Is it trying to tell me what to do?'
He was so enraged that he did not even pay close enough attention to the man's words. Instead, he clenched his fist and the dark violet flame reappeared around it.
It danced on his hand, but did not burn his clothes. When the man and his group saw this, they grew cautious.
"Boss, this guy seems hostile. Let's just leave him alone. We don't need a new party member anyway." One of the people with that man, a young woman, spoke out. There was an odd golden object on her sleeve, various runes inscribed on it.
"Oh, shut it. If the little shit wants a fight he'll get one." A man, tall and muscular, folded his arms and smiled coldly.
They bickered amongst themselves while Yuan Zhen slowly turned around and began walking toward them, this tiny flame burning in his hand.
The 'Boss' was precisely the man that had called out to Yuan Zhen. He was dressed in leather armor, armed with a plethora of knives on his body.
The others appeared to all use either swords or spears, but the woman had nothing but that object on her arm.
Yuan Zhen did a quick head count, preparing himself to separate them all from their respective bodies.
The Boss put a hand on one of his knives, the same frown still on his face.
"There's no need to get violent, but if you insist on fighting then don't blame me for wh--"
"Shut the fuck up!"
Yuan Zhen tossed a spherical flame at them. Though it was only the size of a human head, it felt like a miniature sun was coming straight at them. The Boss' eyes widened in terror as he called out to one of his companions.
"Mythra, quick! Shield!"
One of the group members rushed to his side, an illusory shield appearing when they brought their left hand forward. The flame consumed the shield, but then was extinguished.
"Impossible! It burned your Qi Essence Shield?"
The one called Mythra was actually that very same woman. She looked toward Yuan Zhen in horror, unable to believe his flame had just burned her shield. Immediately after that exchange, two heavy voices sounded from the direction of the city wall. Two guards had already noticed what happened.
"Cease your fighting! By order of King Xian!"
"Stop now or we will be making arrests!"
Yuan Zhen heard the weird name 'King Xian' but disregarded it for now. All he wanted was to kill the humans before him. He urged the fire to come forth again, then he took a step forward.
As he did so, a sharp and fierce wind blew toward the group from the right. They were still focusing on Yuan Zhen's body, not knowing that he was already gone.
His powerful energy, having been refined to a peak, coursed through his body. Without any special technique, he was able to push his speed to a much higher level than others in his level could match.
When they looked toward where the wind was coming from, a much larger ball of fire was already upon them. Once again, Mythra produced another shield, but it couldn't do much.
Still, they were clearly experienced, and they all rushed to the side before the shield was breached, standing clear of the fire.
"Are you crazy?! This is King Xian's territory! Stop fighting!"
Their Boss tried to persuade Yuan Zhen, but it was already much too late for that. Yuan Zhen utilized his insane speed once more, arriving with his fist just inches away from the Boss' face. In that split second collision, he was sent flying by a powerful punch.
"Feng Yan!" One of the members cried out before drawing their weapon.
It turned out that the man that had been sent flying like a ragdoll was named Feng Yan. Now that Feng Yan had been struck, they no longer held back. They all drew their weapons and closed in, surrounding Yuan Zhen.
With matching speeds, their weapons all stabbed toward a single point. Their spiritual energy was coated their weapons, giving them a dangerous aura.
Yuan Zhen scoffed and opened his palm. Covering his hand in thick energy, he waved it and slapped all their weapons away with a simple rotation. The force behind this move was too much for them to bear, launching their swords and spears away.
Each and every one of their weapons went flying from their hands.
"Shit!"
The first human he appeared before ended up shouting in fear before being run through by monstrous claws. As if that wasn't enough to satisfy, he then removed that man's head. Yuan Zhen didn't even take the time to admire his upgraded claws, instead going on a killing spree.
"I said cease your fighting!"
The guards were rushing along the road, aiming to put a stop to the fight. By the time they arrived, Yuan Zhen was already picking Feng Yan up by the neck. His claws pierced Feng Yan's neck, drawing blood. The human was in a wretched state, having been injured by that punch.
Far worse than that, he had watched as his companions were slaughtered. While he was knocked to the ground by a single punch and couldn't move, they were quickly dispatched with expert movements.
"You there! Stop now or we will be forced to attack!"
The guards reached for their longswords, ready to cut down Yuan Zhen at a moment's notice. Yuan Zhen merely glared at them, the glint of red in his eyes rooting them in place.
"Idiots who try to protect humans should just die."
In that instant, a formless pressure erupted from his scarlet pupils, attacking the very souls of those two guards. Their souls were brutally torn apart, and their bodies exploded from the inside.
This surprised him, as he knew that his soul was still in an intermediate stage. He could only attribute it to the powerful energy he now wielded.
When he had dealt with them, he returned his gaze to the swollen-faced Feng Yan. At this point, Feng Yan was already deeply regretful. He wished that he had never called out to Yuan Zhen, and was already praying for it all to be a dream.
"Garbage humans are even less disgusting than these traitorous Beasts. However, you're still unbearably repulsive."
He squeezed slightly and Feng Yan's eyes popped out and fell to the floor. Following his eyes was a mushy tissue, pouring out of both eye sockets and even his ears.
Yuan Zhen had made his brain spill out of his head with a simple action. Of course, there was immense force behind that 'simple' action.
Immediately after the guards had died, the other guards were notified by a strong spiritual fluctuation. It seemed to Yuan Zhen that the average level of those guards was Spirit Manifestation. Sadly, his power was soaring beyond that realm.
A large group guards had now rushed toward the scene, finding Yuan Zhen standing there, motionless. His clothes were splashed with blood which also dripped down his claws, making for an imposing image. Those guards were instantly unnerved, fear slowly creeping into their hearts.
"King Xie... Where is he?" Yuan Zhen remained motionless. The dripping blood pooled at his feet as the guards all stared at him.
They all unconsciously stepped back, only managing to suppress their fear when they were a few feet away. When people saw what was going on, they immediately put distance between them and the blood-covered psycho.
Finally, one of the guards decided to speak up. "You have defied the law of His Majesty, King Xian. What say you in your defense."
Stepping out from the line of guards was one in silver armor, a decorated soldier. He was apparently the superior officer.
"I said... Where is King Xie?" Yuan Zhen shook his claws, flinging blood onto the brick road.
The soldier snorted coldly, then lifted a hand into the air, ready to signal an attack at any moment.
"Last chance. Surrender or come quietly."
Yuan Zhen frowned. He made a grasping motion, causing a long weapon to materialize. It was, namely, the scythe that was his first manifestation.
The soldier then dropped his fist, signaling for the others to attack. The instant they attacked, he grabbed a horn from his side and blew into it with all his power.
The loud sound could be heard throughout the entire city, which alerted the populace of the situation. Something terrible was happening, and the guards were letting the citizens know.
Panic ensued. Those closer to the city could only vaguely make out the blooded figure that the guards were blocking, but that was all they needed to see. In this world, just how many powerful figures were there? Any one of them could wreak havoc in their city.
If they could see that the attacker was merely a youngster, perhaps they wouldn't have reacted this way. Fear had a way of turning people into mindless fools.
Yuan Zhen's smile was now cold, making him appear to be bloodthirsty. At this moment, his past self began to peek out from within. The scythe in his hand made two long swings before returning to its initial position.
Two heads fell, followed by a fountain of blood; two swings to reap two lives.
.