Chapter 277: Kael Vs The Soul Guardian

The guardian moved first.

WHOOSH.

It crossed the arena in a single step. The soul blade came down vertically, splitting the air itself. Kael raised his Shadow Slayer blade, infusing it with soul power and Slaughter Intent simultaneously.

CLANG!

Sparks flew—white soul energy and black-red slaughter intent colliding, scattering across the arena floor like dying stars.

The guardian watched him with ancient eyes filled with calm.

"Impressive," the elder said. "You blocked that."

Kael didn’t respond. He fired a Soul Spike—pzt—aimed directly at the guardian’s chest.

The old man didn’t move. The spike struck his robes and dissolved.

"That’s quite disappointing," the guardian said flatly. "Now this is how to use a soul-based attack."

He raised his palm.

BOOM!

A blast of concentrated soul power hit Kael like a wall. He raised multiple Soul Shields—Vvvvm! Vvvvm!—they shattered instantly. CRACK-CRACK-SHATTER.

"AGH—!"

Pain lanced through his soul. Before he could recover, the old man appeared beside him—a soul-based movement technique that bypassed physical distance entirely.

The guardian’s fist drove into Kael’s stomach.

SLAM.

Kael flew across the arena. His back hit the far wall. He stabbed one Shadow Slayer blade into the ground to stop himself—skreeee—sparks trailing behind him.

He barely had time to breathe before the next attack came.

Multiple soul slashes came flying toward him from three directions. Kael activated Orbital Deflection, bending the gravitational field around him to redirect the attacks.

The soul slashes passed through the gravity field unaffected, barely slowed.

They’re soul-based. Gravity doesn’t affect soul energy the same way.

Kael had only one option. He coated both Shadow Slayer blades with soul power—hmmmm—and met the slashes head-on.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

His arms shook. Each slash carried soul-disrupting energy that bypassed his body cultivation and rattled his soul core directly.

The guardian attacked again. Whoosh. The soul blade cut horizontal arcs through the air—each swing carrying soul-disrupting energy that made Kael’s soul core vibrate painfully.

Kael activated Lightning Body as he appeared at the Guardian’s back. ZIP. He vanished. But the guardian tracked him with soul perception.

CLANG!

Soul blade met Shadow Slayer. Clang-clang-clang. Three exchanges in rapid succession. Each impact sent tremors through both of their hands as they separated.

The guardian raised both hands.

"SOUL CHAINS."

WHIP-WHIP-WHIP!

Chains of condensed soul energy shot from the guardian’s palms—wrapping around Kael’s legs, tightening.

YANK!

Kael was pulled forward—off-balance. He slashed downward with Soul Severing Blade. Slash. The chains broke—pfft—but not before the guardian closed the distance.

The elder’s palm struck Kael’s chest.

SLAM!

Kael crashed into the arena wall. Blood spurted from his lips splattering across the polished floor.

Hhhh... hhhh...

He stood up slowly.

This is dangerous.

His mind raced as he analyzed the fight.

This old man has access to a lot of soul techniques and he’s very versatile with them. His soul power is so dense—each attack hits harder than the last. Are these the monsters of the Primordial Era? This old fucker isn’t even giving me breathing space.

Kael smiled maniacally.

"Guess I’ll just have to be an even greater monster."

His fists interlocked. Fingers threaded together in a pattern—mudra.

""The sky is a lie. The ground is a sentence. Fall, and let the earth claim what pride built. Kneel before the axis of the world."

"Reality Annex: Bed of the Sunken Horizon."

The world bent.

WHUUUUM!

Gravity crashed down on the guardian. The elder’s forward charge slowed—his movements becoming sluggish as six times normal gravity pressed against his body. The arena floor cracked—crack-crack—runic circles shattering under the pressure. The gravity in the room shifted as it became erratic and heavy, crushing anything in its range.

The old man’s eyes widened.

I guess the new generation does have its own monsters.

The guardian stopped retreating. His blue-white eyes burned brighter.

"But too bad—"

He summoned his full power. Soul aura exploded—WHUUUUM—filling the arena.

"Soul is the mirror of existence. Every reflection holds a truth. Every truth holds a blade. I am the mirror—I am the truth—I am the blade that cuts the reflection from the source. Stand within my gaze and see yourself unmade."

"Reality Annex: Soul Mirror Domain."

WHUM.

The arena transformed. Mirrors materialized everywhere—on the walls, the floor, the ceiling. Each mirror reflected Kael’s soul signature. And from each reflection, soul attacks launched.

Soul Spikes from the left. Pzt-pzt. Soul Severing Blades from the right. Slash. Soul Chains from above. Whip.

The domain overlapped with Kael’s Bed of the Sunken Horizon—two domains pressed against each other, fighting for dominance.

Kael was surrounded. His own soul techniques, reflected and weaponized, attacked him from every angle.

Soul Shield!CRACK!

He quickly dodged a soul severing blade. ZIP.

The attacks kept coming. Every mirror generated new ones. Every reflection spawned another technique.

This is bad. The domain is feeding off my soul signature. Every technique I used so far gets reflected.

Kael’s mind raced as he had an idea.

Darkness pooled around him.

The old man jumped back instinctively—sensing something wrong.

"DEVOURING DARKNESS."

WHOOOOM.

The darkness expanded—eating, consuming, devouring. It crept across the arena floor like living shadow, dissolving the soul mirrors on contact. Crack. Shatter. Each mirror that the darkness touched crumbled—its soul energy absorbed.

The Soul Mirror Domain began collapsing.

The guardian’s eyes widened. His soul power was being eaten. The Devouring Darkness consumed the soul domain’s energy, converting it into raw darkness that fed back into Kael.

The old man’s mobility was still restricted by Bed of the Sunken Horizon. His movements slowed. His mirrors shattered one by one.

Kael made his decision to finish the fight now.

He brought both Shadow Slayer blades upward. All his remaining soul power gathered along the edges. Slaughter Intent flooded the metal. The blades trembled with concentrated energy.

"Sky Rending Technique, Fourth Form—"

Void Split.

SLAAASH!

Two arcs of combined darkness, lightning residue, soul power, and Slaughter Intent shot forward. The attack merged mid-flight—becoming a single wave of absolute destruction that tore through the air itself.

The guardian raised a soul cube—condensed soul energy forming a protective barrier around his body.

Vvvvm.

The Void Split hit the cube.

CRACK—SHATTER!

The cube split apart. The Void Split continued, passing through the guardian’s body from shoulder to hip.

The old man’s form separated. His body split—crack—and dissolved into particles of soul energy. His robes crumbled. His soul blade shattered.

...fizzzt...

The guardian’s voice came one last time.

"You are... worthy."

His form dissolved completely. Soul energy drifted toward Kael streaming into his body, his soul core, his spirit.

Kael fell to his knees as his body then collapsed to the ground.

Thud.

[CONGRATULATIONS. THIRD TRIAL COMPLETE. THE IMMORTAL SOUL SECT ENTRANCE EXAMINATION: PASSED.]

[ALL TRIALS CLEARED. CANDIDATE IS HEREBY RECOGNIZED AS A SUCCESSOR OF THE IMMORTAL SOUL SECT.]

[THE SECT MASTER’S CHAMBER HAS BEEN UNLOCKED. PROCEED TO CLAIM YOUR INHERITANCE.]