Chapter 887: Self-Destruction

Yi's startled cry ceased abruptly.

The berserk giant unleashed a finger of blue light. As the giant's size grew, so did the area enveloped by the blue light.

Even with countless abilities at his disposal, Yi's slowed soul body prevented him from successfully evading the incredible speed of the Finger of Annihilation, even with movement.

A faint "thump" sound could be heard.

Xu Xiaoshou perceived a faint popping sound emanating from Yi's direction.

However, the explosion of a soul body wasn't something he could hear with his physical ears. Only through the power of Heavenly Secrets layered over his eyes could he see Yi's soul body shatter and disperse under the Finger of Annihilation's blue light.

"Dead?"

Tiny fragments of ethereal soul light scattered across the ground.

Xu Xiaoshou saw this clearly, yet a slight frown creased his brow.

It seemed that those obliterated by the Finger of Annihilation shouldn't explode; they should... completely vanish?

He returned to his normal human size and looked toward Xuan Wuji.

Old Ancestor Wuji's face showed uncontainable delight, yet he firmly declared, "Not dead yet!"

"Not dead?"

Xu Xiaoshou was astonished.

After all that, Yi is still alive?

How incredibly difficult is it to kill a Grandmaster?

In that previous wave, if Yi hadn't impulsively used Grandmaster power to counterattack himself, he might very well still be alive.

But there were no "ifs"...

Xu Xiaoshou had also never imagined that Yi's Murky Ghost Qi, seemingly a light, airy strike, could actually contribute "4.62" to the Finger of Annihilation's charge value!

That fellow truly brought about his own undoing.

Yi was already a fragmented soul body, and splitting himself in two had significantly weakened his abilities.

Had he not acted impulsively, or chosen not to use his Grandmaster power, and instead merely attempted to mentally control Xu Xiaoshou, he wouldn't have inadvertently provided Xu Xiaoshou with a "4.62" charge for the Finger of Annihilation.

But just as Xu Xiaoshou hadn't anticipated Yi's counterattack,

Yi also hadn't foreseen that the Xu Xiaoshou he intended to put to sleep was an untouchable hedgehog.

Truly!

Life is full of unpredictable twists.

"Xu Xiaoshou."

"The domain has shifted..."

Lei Xier, having awakened from Yi's control, stood gracefully and quietly warned him.

As she stated, Yi's domain had originally been overwritten by her White Cave Small World.

But now, with the fragmentation of Yi's soul body, it had been replaced by a different scene.

The dim, misty space felt like the underworld; immersing one in it was like plunging into an icy dungeon.

Xu Xiaoshou vaguely sensed that this power was of a very high level and felt somewhat familiar.

He knew without a doubt that this had to be Yi's contingency plan!

That guy, still surviving after being struck twice by the Finger of Annihilation? Is he a cockroach?

And also...

What is this world that resembles an illusion?

Xu Xiaoshou glanced sideways at Old Ancestor Wuji.

Old Ancestor Wuji, clearly well-informed, instantly recognized the origin of the scene. He smiled and explained, "A Grandmaster World! This is Yi's personal Grandmaster World. He's run out of options; this is his last resort to save his life."

A Grandmaster World... Xu Xiaoshou thought of Old Sang's straw hat.

That old man had provided his final assistance precisely in this manner.

And now, Yi was clearly at his wit's end, forced to manifest even his Grandmaster World.

But why...

The Grandmaster World is so powerful.

Yet both Old Sang and Yi only use it when pushed to their absolute limits?

If they had used it sooner,

Would the situation then and now have been vastly different?

Old Ancestor Wuji, clearly discerning Xu Xiaoshou's confusion, explained:

"A Grandmaster World is the manifested will-world of a Grandmaster, a place for cultivating spiritual constructs and honing one's mental and soul power."

"While undeniably powerful against lower-ranked cultivators, deploying a Grandmaster World first against a peer is akin to exposing one's most vulnerable aspect."

"After all, on this continent, true masters of mental and soul cultivation are exceedingly rare."

Xu Xiaoshou's understanding instantly clicked.

But then he considered:

Wasn't Yi a primary practitioner of mental and soul arts?

Old Ancestor Wuji chuckled. "Do you truly believe that?"

He clarified, "Only the sword of ancient sword cultivators, the spirit of spirit refiners, or the mental soul of the Divine Soul Dao are considered true specializations."

"Yi merely adapted his cultivation to the Divine Soul Dao from his foundational spirit refining, at the Throne Dao Realm."

"His Divine Soul Dao abilities are indeed potent, and compared to the general populace who typically don't cultivate the Divine Soul Dao, his capabilities might even be considered 'specialized'."

"However, a counterfeit remains a counterfeit. In the Five Domains, those who truly specialize in the Divine Soul Dao are even scarcer than ancient sword cultivators; currently, only Beihuai has reached true mastery."

"Yi doesn't dare to unleash his Grandmaster World because..."

Old Ancestor Wuji smirked confidently. "Others might fear his Grandmaster World, but my abilities completely suppress his!"

A thought sparked in Xu Xiaoshou's mind.

He seemed to grasp why, even though he hadn't killed Yi, Old Ancestor Wuji could feel so pleased.

"Xu Xiaoshou, you've done more than enough. From here, leave it to me, Old Ancestor!"

Old Ancestor Wuji looked up at the sky and ceased his actions.

Ever since realizing Xu Xiaoshou genuinely possessed the ability to contend with Yi, Old Ancestor Wuji had taken over the strategic support, fully dedicating himself to the long-range battle against the Heavenly Secret Alchemist on the Red Clothes side.

It must be said,

Their opponent was formidable.

The Heavenly Secret Arts pressed relentlessly, making it difficult for Old Ancestor Wuji to even spare a moment to assist in the battle unfolding before him.

But fortunately, he was experienced.

Old Ancestor Wuji withstood the opposing assault, successfully maintaining control over the Cloud Realm World during that critical time.

Just as Xu Xiaoshou had secured the immediate situation,

Old Ancestor Wuji had secured a retreat path for everyone after Yi's defeat.

He had originally believed that by mid-battle, he, Xuan Wuji, would need to disengage from his Heavenly Secret confrontation and lend Xu Xiaoshou a hand.

But he never imagined that Yi, in an unprecedented turn, would be pushed to such a state by Xu Xiaoshou and Lei Xier, left with only tiny remnants of his soul and his will fleeing into the Grandmaster World.

Old Ancestor Wuji immediately understood:

The opportunity had arrived!

Xu Xiaoshou and Lei Xier had already completed the task of destroying Yi's physical body and soul, a task that would have required him to spend considerable time setting up a grand Heavenly Secret array.

Now, only the aftermath remained.

Whether the Grandmaster would die or escape after defeat...

...essentially depended on the perfection of the cleanup operation.

For Xu Xiaoshou, reaching this point meant he had already given his all.

Just as Yi had inexplicably escaped last time, if this had been a solo fight, Xu Xiaoshou couldn't guarantee that after Yi's physical body, soul, and even will were annihilated, he wouldn't somehow, like Yu Lingdi, be reborn in a way he'd never imagined.

But Old Ancestor Wuji was different.

He had been preparing for this very moment for far too long.

"Heavenly Secret, draw!"

With a swift hand seal, Old Ancestor Wuji directly took control of the Cloud Realm World.

Temporarily abandoning the struggle against the Heavenly Secret Alchemist outside would indeed allow the opponent to breach his defenses and reclaim control of the Cloud Realm World within a very short time.

However, Old Ancestor Wuji was confident that this brief window was sufficient to deal with Yi's remaining will.

As starlight rained down, the Grandmaster World began to shimmer with brilliant points of light, alien to its inherent gloom.

Old Ancestor Wuji's hands moved with renewed speed, and beneath his feet, the Heavenly Secret array diagram unfurled, slowly rotating.

"Stabilize!"

He lightly tapped the void with his ten fingers.

A resonant hum filled the air.

The Grandmaster World ceased its operation.

At that moment, Xu Xiaoshou felt as if time itself had been paused. Even the simple act of glancing sideways became incredibly arduous.

"Such powerful fluctuations of the Great Dao..."

Lei Xier's heart also tensed. Her Divine Devil Eyes activated on their own, releasing divine power that helped her break free from the control.

Disregarding the rules of the Heavenly Secret World, she could move normally, yet she was awestruck by the overwhelming aura of the Great Dao.

It was incredibly clear!

In Lei Xier's eyes, the rules of the Great Dao, normally concealed within the void of heaven and earth, now seemed to have materialized.

They resembled intricate gears in motion, with each mesh, the power of the Great Dao was invoked by the Heavenly Secret Arts, manifesting unique attributes.

Should anyone cultivate at the point where these gears meshed, they would undoubtedly achieve instant enlightenment.

But clearly,

This scene was not meant for cultivation.

Old Ancestor Wuji was operating at full power.

The restrictions of Liu Changqing's Dao Severance cultivation forced him to expend even more power and unleash his Heavenly Secret abilities to their utmost limit. Only then could he borrow the desired Great Dao rules and, against the odds, control Yi's will, which was hidden within the Grandmaster World.

Blood began to trickle from his seven facial orifices.

But these were minor details, given that it wasn't his own body.

Intricate patterns covered Old Ancestor Wuji's eyes as he scanned for something.

Soon, he ceased his search, a cold smirk spreading across his lips.

"Hiding?"

"I'll let you hide! Let's see how long you can last!"

He extended his hands outwards.

The formidable power of the Cloud Realm World's Heavenly Secret Grand Array was once again drawn upon by him.

"Heaven-Flipping Mark: Wave Cage!"

Old Ancestor Wuji bellowed, and from his ten fingers, materialized Heavenly Secret runes burst forth.

These runes intertwined and coiled, forming an intricate network of luminous threads that filled the entire Grandmaster World, like a sprawling web of rules.

Old Ancestor Wuji clenched his palms and fingers, fiercely tugging this rune-filled world inward.

"Boom!"

Space was instantly torn apart by the Heavenly Secret runes.

Xu Xiaoshou watched, wide-eyed, as the sky-spanning, net-like runes, pulled by Old Ancestor Wuji, passed harmlessly through everyone's bodies and converged on a distant star-like point.

No harm...

The Heavenly Secret runes, which had ripped through space, inflicted not a single injury on anyone present.

However, these runes gathered all of Yi's fragmented will and scattered soul particles from every corner of the Grandmaster World.

"Bind!"

Old Ancestor Wuji clenched his fist.

The net-like runes transformed into a shimmering cocoon of light, forcing Yi's consciousness into his remaining soul fragments and trapping them all.

"Ah—"

Yi's agonizing roar echoed through the air.

The soul fragments coalesced into a new soul body for him, yet this nascent form was utterly weak and fragile.

Before Xu Xiaoshou's second Finger of Annihilation strike, Yi had felt utterly cornered. He had resorted to self-detonating his spirit body, hoping to preserve even a minuscule portion of his soul fragments.

He possessed a method for fragmenting his consciousness.

As long as a single trace of his soul fragments remained, he could imbue it with his will and revive.

But now, Old Ancestor Wuji had extinguished all his hope.

The old man refused to let go of a single soul fragment or wisp of mental will, tracking them all down and forcibly reassembling them.

A desperate resolve to die emerged within Yi.

He had a premonition that he truly might not escape this tribulation today.

What began as a simple, inconsequential inquiry to a junior had, unexpectedly, escalated beyond all reason, like a snowball rolling downhill, growing larger and larger.

Ultimately, it had pushed him onto a path of no return.

"Xu! Xiao! Shou!!!"

Yi's phantom-like, tattered soul body thrashed and roared at Xu Xiaoshou, the root cause of his misery.

He hated!

He hated Xu Xiaoshou's array of bizarre and eerie spiritual techniques—abilities he had never heard of, let alone seen, on this continent, making them impossible to guard against.

He also hated himself for not having deduced, in the interim between Xu Xiaoshou's first strike and the potential second, that the opponent's technique was actually a soul defensive counterattack.

Most of all, he hated that he had been so close to possession, yet had unnecessarily added a "Spiritual Will: Degradation" strike to Xu Xiaoshou. Without that move, the current outcome might have been entirely different.

But there were no "ifs"...

Yi railed like a madman, incessantly spewing out vile curses.

Yet, his underlying will remained remarkably calm.

"I can't fight, not anymore!"

"I must leave, I have to get out!"

"The Lei family remnant, Old Ancestor Wuji, and Xu Xiaoshou's utterly bizarre skills capable of tricking even a Grandmaster to his death... If I truly perish here, no one will ever know."

"The intelligence I hold is too critical; it must be transmitted, Night Owl must know. Otherwise, if she seeks revenge for me and sees Xu Xiaoshou's Master cultivation, she will surely underestimate him, and then it's highly probable that damned thing will cunningly kill her too!"

"But, but..."

Yi grew slightly anxious.

But this cursed control of the Cloud Realm World had, by sheer chance, fallen into Old Ancestor Wuji's hands.

The three individuals standing before him were like his personal bane.

If even one of them were absent, he might have been able to escape.

But their combined efforts had completely controlled Yi from start to finish, preventing him from even using any extra counterattacks.

"Hoo..."

Yi, growing increasingly desperate, suddenly ceased his verbal curses.

He took a deep, drawn-out breath.

And then...

His soul body suddenly began to swell!

"Self-destruct?"

Old Ancestor Wuji was startled.

He had not expected Yi to be so desperate as to attempt soul self-destruction!

If Yi truly resorted to such a suicidal act, wouldn't he take all his vital intelligence with him to his grave?

Impossible!

There was no way this fellow would choose self-destruction!

Knowing so many secrets, how could he possibly commit suicide with them? Even if disgraced, he would surely cling to life to transmit the information!

Old Ancestor Wuji's first instinct was that this was a ruse.

Meanwhile, Xu Xiaoshou, hearing Old Ancestor Wuji's startled gasp and watching Yi's soul body suddenly swell, felt his heart instantly tighten.

He had obtained the Imitator.

Only one final step remained to bring his audacious plan to fruition.

How could Yi die so easily?

If he died,

...how would they manage the aftermath when Rao Yaoyao arrived with her sword?

"Soul Read!"

In that critical moment, Xu Xiaoshou's eyes widened with determination, staring directly.

He didn't just want the Imitator; he wanted Yi's entire life from his soul memories, including everything the opponent knew!