Chapter 167 - Festival’s Eve (Part VI) (Patreon)

Because of the phenomena caused by the summoning of the golden zither, it became easy for Lucian to pinpoint Resonant Sea Ancestor's location.

With a silent command, the night creatures converged on her, and Lucian's body took the full brunt of the echoes emanating from them. His soul foundation was being depleted as he refined more Blood Essence and regenerated his wounds.

Despite the overwhelming pain, he felt it was nothing compared to the Curse of Gluttony. It barely affected his thoughts, especially now that his mind had been temporarily elevated to the level of a Supreme being.

His eyes were tranquil, and his heart at ease. For him, he had a clear advantage. That was neither his soul foundation, which he was forced to share with Resonant Sea Ancestor, nor his techniques, which lacked the flexibility of a mage's or a cultivator's.

It was his battle experience.

Among the five Beyond the Supremes, himself included, Lucian had fought very few equals. Even so, he had battled beings like the Human Sage and the Mutant King thousands of times, witnessing and overcoming countless extraordinary techniques.

However, Nascent Soul cultivators were the equivalent of Supreme beings, a realm below what Lucian had once reached. And if he took into account battles in the S-Tier, he had fought way too many. Some of those had lasted months. Others had dragged on for years!

As far as he knew, the Resonant Sea Ancestor had only eight true peers, and he doubted they fought each other often. Considering how the Nine Sects seemed divided by region and the rules they followed, it would be a miracle if these ancestors fought once every decade.

That was why, as Resonant Sea Ancestor summoned the golden zither and pressed his Spiritual Sea with the power of her Authorities, Lucian felt himself drawing closer to victory.

She's growing impatient, he thought, manipulating the runes and preparing his hidden techniques one by one. Oh, child, it took you too long to make some sacrifices. You should've learned that without giving, you can't take!

From the very beginning of the battle, Lucian had never cared about expending his soul foundation, his greatest resource. Not only because it could be restored in dozens or hundreds of years, but because nothing mattered more than his survival.

If he tried to preserve his soul foundation only for it to end up in Resonant Sea Ancestor's hands, wouldn't he simply be leaving better spoils for his enemy?

Sometimes sacrifice was necessary to secure what truly mattered!

Like Salazar used to say, Lucian thought, taking a slow breath as he remembered his adopted son.  Give the flesh to break the bone!

Settling his thoughts, Lucian stepped forward, floating high in the sky.

Although he appeared to be simply watching Resonant Sea Ancestor rise from the emerald waters and play her zither, he had been laying traps from the very beginning.

Through the Rune of Greed, he prepared a distraction impossible to ignore. It served as a feint and was a hidden trap.

Then, after the Rune of Gluttony was partly neutralized, he deliberately left its remnants behind, forcing Resonant Sea Ancestor to constantly devote her attention to the giant fangs. They all knew that as soon as the battlefield killer move stopped, the fangs would return to their feast.

As for the Rune of Sloth, he had fused it with the Rune of Lust, continuously creating false memories and attempting to implant them through the resonance linking their souls. Resonant Sea Ancestor had erased most of them after discovering the first one, but a few remained.

Those still unfound were false memories woven tightly into Lucian's stolen recollections, making them difficult to distinguish at a glance. Resonant Sea Ancestor had stolen countless memories while inside him, but mostly she had witnessed without looking too deeply. This way, separating truth from falsehood became almost impossible.

Meanwhile, the Rune of Pride sustained his Domain, greatly enhancing his control over blood. Under normal circumstances, he would have forged physical shields to defend himself, but inside the Spiritual Sea and against soul attacks, such defenses would have served little purpose.

At last, the Rune of Wrath maintained the crimson hurricane of night creatures relentlessly descending upon Resonant Sea Ancestor, each attempting to devour her even as they were reduced to blood and gore.

Naturally, this sixth rune was the cornerstone of Lucian's strategy. Everything until now was setting the stage for the true power of the Rune of Wrath.

That was why, the moment Resonant Sea Ancestor began to sing, Lucian's expression turned cold, and he dove straight into the emerald waters beneath her.

Time for our final dance, he thought.

As he descended, Resonant Sea Ancestor plucked a single string, and a gentle melody filled the Spiritual Sea. It was a humming song overflowing with warmth, one that seemed capable of comforting the soul of the departed.

Green soundwaves spread outward from the golden zither, empowered by the Sea of Ten Thousand Echoes, the pseudo-battlefield killer move.

Whenever the waves struck a night creature, the creature shuddered before exploding instantly. Then, an echo of its former self emerged from the shattered remains and launched a single attack against another nearby creature.

Every death created another echo, and every echo created another death.

Mayhem spread through the Spiritual Sea as blood rained from above, gradually staining the emerald waters crimson once more.

Within seconds, half of the night creatures had perished. The Authority of Resonance spread every sound through their bodies, inflicting the damage. The Authority of Flow ensured those sounds reached their targets, while the Authority of Echoes multiplied the effects after each death.

Searching for Lucian but failing to find him, Resonant Sea Ancestor continued her song, annihilating the remaining creatures in less than two minutes.

Looking down, she saw crimson waters filling her vision. With a frown, she glanced toward the dark heavens before turning to the shining crimson sea where a single white line reflected.

"Wait," she muttered, her eyes narrowing. "The waters weren't supposed to shine."

She plucked another string.

Her body multiplied into thousands of echoes through Ripple Crossing, each illusion spreading throughout the Spiritual Sea. This time, however, they were empowered by the golden zither and the pseudo battlefield killer technique.

A moment after she used her technique, the emerald island, mostly untouched by the battle, erupted in light and exploded into countless fragments, crimson waters filling the whole.

Deep beneath the waters, Lucian closed his hand, and then he opened it. After his move, another explosion erupted above, this one obliterating hundreds of Resonant Sea Ancestor's echoes.

Hovering above his palm was a crimson eyeball with a faint emerald pupil.

"You!" Resonant Sea Ancestor shouted. "You're insane!"

Lucian answered her by repeating the motion, expelling the Blood Essence refined through the Rune of Greed and then detonating it.

It was almost the same as vomiting blood, like he did when unable to cultivate Qi. The biggest difference was that he was using both his own soul foundation and Resonant Sea Ancestor's half of it as fuel.

In other words, he was doubling the rate at which their shared foundation was being consumed.

Above the waters, Resonant Sea Ancestor scowled. She couldn't understand why he was doing this, but she knew it was a trap. Even so, she decided to step into it. If she chose to wait for Lucian's soul to weaken further, there was a chance his soul foundation would fall below the threshold necessary to sustain their current cultivation.

She didn't know whether Lucian could still wield all six runes after that, but she wasn’t willing to take a gamble!

Adding to that concern, she knew that if his soul foundation dropped below the Core Formation level, her Domain would collapse, and the pseudo battlefield killer technique would end as well, turning the outcome disastrous for her.

Not wasting time, she dived into the sea and hunted him down.

The roles had reversed!

With a cold expression, Lucian remained indifferent, burning soul while observing the movements above.

Suddenly, his eyes shifted sideways. There, golden and emerald spheres condensed before shooting toward him.

Exploding Blood Essence beneath him, Lucian maneuvered through the waters, propelling himself with violent bursts while narrowly avoiding the incoming attacks.

Thousands of echoes pursued him. Some launched genuine attacks, while others were mere feints. However, even empty spheres could suddenly become lethal through the Authority of Echo, so it was hard to predict if a feint would turn into a real strike!

The entire assault resembled an elaborate sword dance, only instead of a blade, the medium was the cultivator's own mind and soul.

Weaving through the barrage, Lucian burst Blood Essence at an alarming rate, rapidly exhausting his foundation until it was almost at the threshold needed to sustain Nascent Soul strength.

Realizing time was running out, Resonant Sea Ancestor abandoned any hope of possessing him. Besides, she didn't think to flee. When she saw how willing Lucian was to cripple himself to achieve victory, she resolved to kill him, even if it meant sacrificing this split soul.

In her opinion, he was far too dangerous!

Next, with a sweet laugh and her voice echoing throughout the Spiritual Sea, she whispered, "Farewell, Fellow Daoist."

After those words, she plucked every string of the golden zither, and a vast shadow descended over Lucian's soul.

"Forbidden Killing Technique: Ten Thousand Echoes Across the Ages!"

At her command, countless figures emerged throughout the Spiritual Sea, formed by a mix of Lucian's soul foundation and her Authorities.

Each radiated the might of at least an early-stage Core Formation cultivator, while ten among them carried the overwhelming pressure of Nascent Soul Ancestors!