Chapter 359: Arrival of an Eclipse

WHOOSH!

A terrifying, ancient aura erupted as a ripple of dense, soul-crushing energy exploded from Kael’s back. The Netherworld Soul Locking Flag materialized from the void, its fabric billowing.

Kael’s hands blurred into a series of complex seals. BZZZT!

Three colossal soul signatures blazed into existence. The souls of Draxos, the pureblood Asura Demon, and Claudia, the Viper, materialized with terrifying clarity, their spectral forms radiating hatred and bloodlust. Beside them stood the third soul—the fused entity Kael had created in the Astral Void Realm. He decided to call it the Void Revenant, a faceless, armored juggernaut radiating the dense aura of a Peak Spirit Soul.

The five House of Crimson cultivators froze, their eyes widening in utter disbelief.

"W-What is that?!" the Wind Spirit Soul Rank 8 stammered.

Kael didn’t answer. With a flick of his wrist, Draxos and Claudia shot forward like spectral missiles.

The Frost Armor woman reacted instantly. "Die!" FZZZZT! She unleashed a torrent of absolute-zero ice.

But the souls were ethereal. The ice passed right through Draxos and Claudia without even slowing them down.

SCREEEECH! Draxos let out a demonic roar, his spectral claws expanding as he lunged at the two weaker Rank 8 cultivators. Claudia flanked him, her serpentine soul form weaving through the air with lethal grace.

CRUNCH! Draxos’s claw tore through the Ice cultivator’s shoulder, ripping his arm clean off. AHHHH! Draxos massive fist then slammed into the Ice Cultivator. CRUNCH! She screamed in agony as her ribs shattered. Before she could react, Claudia’s serpentine tail whipped around her neck, snapping it with a sickening CRACK! Her body dropped lifelessly to the ground.

"Get back!" Lady Bone shouted. She rushed forward, her eyes glowing white. BZZT! A massive wave of Bone Rule Power erupted from her. She rushed forward, her hands forming a complex seal creating a colossal skeletal hand that slammed into Draxos’s soul, forcing the Asura Demon back.

The Wind cultivator gasped, clutching his chest in sheer relief as he was saved from Claudia’s follow-up strike.

Meanwhile, Kael stood in the center of the chaos, his eyes closed. He murmured a chilling chant, his voice echoing with the weight of absolute authority.

"Light is an illusion. Creation is a lie. From the void I was born, and to the void you shall return."

Grey and the Frost woman sensed the shift in the air. "Kill him! Now!" Grey roared, thrusting his golden staff forward.

But it was too late.

Kael’s eyes snapped open. "Reality Annex: Eclipse of the Primordial Void."

BOOM!

A massive, 50-meter sphere of absolute, pitch-black darkness exploded from Kael, swallowing the entire battlefield. Grey, the Frost woman, Lady Bone, the injured Wind cultivator, and even the three souls were instantly consumed by the primordial void.

Inside the domain, all four Crimson cultivators felt a terrifying sensation. Their five senses—sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell—were completely erased. They were floating in an endless, suffocating abyss.

What the hell?! Grey thought, panic rising in his chest for the first time in decades. A Reality Annex? From a Spirit Soul Rank 6?! That’s impossible!

They immediately pushed their soul sense outward, but their 2-meter radius was utterly useless in a 50-meter domain of absolute darkness. They couldn’t even sense Kael, let alone locate him. They were blind, deaf, and completely vulnerable.

Suddenly, the darkness pooled beneath their feet. SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! Countless dark spikes erupted from the ground, aiming to impale them from below.

BZZT! BZZZT!

The four cultivators had no choice. Their Rule Power blazed outward, coating their bodies in a protective layer of elemental law. The dark spikes shattered against their rule power.

Using Rule Power in such a way was incredibly taxing. It consumed an enormous amount of mana and put immense strain on the physical body. Most cultivators avoided it unless absolutely necessary. But in this situation, it was the only way to prevent the sure-hit effect of Kael’s reality annex from stripping away their senses entirely.

Suddenly, the three souls attacked.

ROOOOAR! Draxos’s spectral claw slammed into the Frost woman’s shield, sending shockwaves through the darkness. Claudia targeted the injured Wind cultivator, while the Void Revenant charged at Grey.

Grey gritted his teeth. He channeled his lightning rule power into his golden staff. "Get away from me!" CRACK-BOOM! He fired a massive blast of lightning, sending Claudia’s soul flying backward with a pained screech.

But Grey realized something crucial. The rule power works on the souls!

Before he could warn the others, the shadows beneath the injured Wind cultivator rippled. Kael emerged like a phantom, his Shadow Slayer blade gleaming.

SLASH!

"AHHHH!" The Wind cultivator barely had time to react. His right leg was severed cleanly at the knee, spinning into the darkness.

Grey and the Frost woman fired a barrage of attacks at Kael, but he vanished back into the shadows.

Suddenly, the temperature skyrocketed. Kael appeared directly above them, his hands forming a seal. FWOOSH! A massive, torrential downpour of Demonic Asura Hellfire rained down.

The Frost woman screamed, desperately raising her hands. "Absolute Zero!" FZZZZT! She conjured a massive wall of ice rule power. The Heavenly Flame collided with the ice, HISS-CRACK! The sheer heat instantly vaporized half her mana pool just to keep the barrier from melting.

"We have to get out of this domain!" Grey roared, his voice barely carrying through the void.

Suddenly, they felt the ground beneath them actively trying to drain their mana. They immediately leaped into the air.

Kael’s mocking laughter echoed from every direction. "Hahahaha! Running already? I thought you were going to kill me!"

The Frost woman gritted her teeth, her face twisted in absolute fury. How is this happening?! A Spirit Soul Rank 6 is giving three Peak Spirit Soul cultivators this much trouble! This is absurd!

Grey reached into his spatial ring and pulled out a terrifying rank 6 talisman. It was an incredibly rare, single-use artifact designed to tear through spatial barriers and pocket dimensions.

"Channel your rule power into this! Now!" Grey commanded. "It’s a Rank 6 Heaven-Sundering Spatial Talisman! It should have enough power to tear through a reality annex!"

Lady Bone immediately stepped forward, manifesting a massive, spherical bone shield around them. "I’ll protect you! Hurry!"

Grey and the Frost woman poured their rule power into the talisman. BZZZZZT! The talisman began to glow brighter and brighter.

But Kael wasn’t going to let them escape that easily.

SWISH! The Void Revenant and Claudia slammed into Lady Bone’s shield, cracking the bones.

And then, Draxos struck. The Asura Demon’s soul bypassed the bone shield entirely, appearing directly in front of the injured Wind cultivator.

"NO! PLEASE! HELP ME!" the man screamed.

CRUNCH! Draxos’s spectral hand pierced through his chest. The man’s eyes rolled back as his soul was violently ripped from his body. WHOOSH! Draxos dragged the screaming soul directly into the Netherworld Soul Locking Flag.

The horrifying sight terrified Lady Bone and the Frost woman, but Grey didn’t stop channeling. "NOW!"

CRACK-KABOOM!

The Heaven-Sundering Spatial Talisman detonated. A massive, blinding rift of pure spatial energy tore through Kael’s Eclipse of the Primordial Void. The domain shattered like glass, the darkness dissolving into the smoggy air of Sector 9-Vex.

Whoosh! Draxos, Claudia, and the Void Revenant were instantly sucked back into the soul flag.

Kael dropped to one knee, his Shadow Slayer blades clattering against the rusted metal ground. Cough! He spat out a mouthful of dark blood, his chest heaving violently. Breaking the domain from the inside out had caused a massive backlash to his soul and mana veins.

Grey, Lady Bone, and the Frost woman stood panting in the ruins, their bodies covered in wounds, their mana reserves nearly depleted. They looked at the kneeling Kael, their eyes filled with a mix of terror and disbelief.