Chương 194: Chapter 83: Domineering and Overpowering Divine Ability

A singular, transparent finger manifested at the tip of his own, crystalline and shimmering with a mesmerizing, kaleidoscopic luster under the ambient light, appearing for all the world like the digit of a celestial deity. The very instant it coalesced, a violent, irresistible suction force erupted from its core. Under the influence of this vacuum, the external spiritual energy of the world transformed into a roiling tidal wave, forcibly devoured by the technique.

However, the Earth-Shaking Finger was not launched as a projectile this time; instead, it was as if Reyn's own finger had extended by a divine segment, slowly and deliberately descending toward his foe.

"What manner of divine ability is this? To forcibly swallow the spiritual energy of the world to bolster its own potency!"

"How utterly bizarre. Such a domineering technique... it seems even more overbearing than the most aggressive demonic arts!"

"A casual point from this man carries such staggering might. He is certainly no simpleton; we must exercise extreme caution when dealing with him in the future!" Wei Qubing's eyes flickered with a momentary spark of astonishment before returning to their usual, placid depths. Yin Wuyu, however, watched with eyes that blazed with a sudden, fervent heat, a flash of intense greed erupting for a heartbeat before he forcibly suppressed it. Ge Yucheng's brow furrowed deeply, his face clouded with confusion and disbelief.

Within the shadows of his robes, Xing Tianxie's fists clenched into white-knuckled balls, his gaze locked onto Reyn with a piercing intensity, as if he intended to peel back the layers of the man's soul. The Huanming Sect cultivator's eyes widened with a surge of alarm upon witnessing the descent of that finger, but a savage, twisted sneer soon carved itself onto his face.

Black light flared from his palms with renewed ferocity, and in an instant, a ghastly wind howled through the clearing, bringing with it a bone-chilling, murderous frost. Boom! The crystalline finger collided with the surging black light. Like a sudden thunderclap erupting on dry land, a deafening roar exploded from the point of impact. Simultaneously, a powerful shockwave of mana swept outward in every direction, kicking up a blinding curtain of dust and debris.

"Die!" the Huanming Sect cultivator snarled, his voice dripping with malice. The moment his black light made contact with the Earth-Shaking Finger, it abruptly transformed into a roiling mass of dark clouds, surging forward to envelop Reyn entirely. This darkness was no ordinary manifestation of mana; it was a supreme yin-poison ghost technique he had spent decades refining. Should a cultivator's physical body make contact, it would be instantly corroded.

Without immediate and specialized treatment, they would be poisoned to death on the spot, their Primordial Soul trapped within the rotting husk, unable to escape. With this treacherous art, he had ambushed and slain countless rivals, ending battles in a single strike. Today, he believed, would be no different! His eyes were filled with a cold, cruel certainty.

He had already visualized the sequence: the moment the man's flesh began to liquefy, he would snatch the storage bag before Reyn could crush his trial stone, then savor the sight of his enemy dying in agonizing despair. Reyn's expression remained entirely impassive, his gaze as flat as a frozen lake, as if the encroaching tide of darkness did not exist. His lips parted ever so slightly, and a cold command escaped: "Devour."

As those two syllables fell, the suction emanating from the Earth-Shaking Finger intensified to a terrifying degree. Not only did the ambient spiritual energy of the surroundings rush in, but the lunging, poisonous black light was also unable to escape the fate of being forcibly swallowed. As the foul energy surged into the crystalline digit, the finger turned a sinister, abyssal black.

Yet, its aura did not diminish in the slightest; instead, it became deeper, more ancient, and far more terrifying, radiating a heart-palpitating fluctuation of pure power. Back in the Sealed Land, when Reyn had first unleashed the Earth-Shaking Finger to execute Wu Shengli—who had undergone a demonic transformation into a fanged, bone-spurred monstrosity—he had discovered this hidden trait.

The technique could swallow not just raw spiritual energy, but also the active divine abilities and spells of his opponents, provided their Primordial Soul cultivation did not exceed his own. Reyn still remained ignorant of the true origin of the Great Yama Palm fragment. Even within the depths of Yu Meiren's stolen memories, the history of this scroll was blurred and fragmented, as if the information had been deliberately excised from existence.

Yet, the divine ability recorded within was so domineering that its first stage alone defied logic. If he were to master it to its ultimate pinnacle, would he not be able to swallow every technique and law in the heavens with a single strike? The righteous path was characterized by peace and balance; the ghost path was defined by its eerie, insidious nature; the demonic path was known for its raw, overbearing power.

But this technique, which could be fueled by the Five Elements mana of a righteous cultivator, was more insidious than ghost arts and more domineering than the most savage demonic spells! Reyn's gaze shifted to the Huanming Sect cultivator. The man was frozen, his face a mask of shock and incomprehension. He had not yet processed the reality that his life-long cultivation of the black-light technique had been consumed whole. Such a phenomenon was unheard of to everyone present.

However, no one noticed the flicker of intense, hidden heat in Yin Wuyu's eyes, a look that quickly transformed into a chilling, murderous intent directed at Reyn. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Die." With that single, frigid word, the blackened finger became a blur of motion, slamming with the weight of a mountain into the Huanming Sect cultivator's chest. Boom! A dull, sickening thud echoed from within the man's ribcage as the Earth-Shaking Finger bypassed all physical resistance, merging into his body and vanishing into his very core. A few breaths later, a stray breeze drifted through the clearing.

Under the terrified gazes of the gathered cultivators, the body of the Huanming Sect disciple dissolved, his remains scattering like dust upon the wind. Even his Primordial Soul had been utterly extinguished, wiped from existence by the cold finality of the strike. Reyn remained expressionless, as if he had foreseen this exact conclusion from the start. With cold, detached grace, he withdrew his hand and resumed his steady march toward One-Line Gorge.

Several hundred feet ahead, a swirling vortex three zhang in diameter rotated with a slow, rhythmic hum—the glowing threshold that marked the exit of the Trial Realm. His face remained as flat and unreadable as the surface of a frozen lake. Aside from the few terse syllables uttered during the brief clash, he had not spoken. Yet, the crowd's perception of him had undergone a cataclysmic transformation.

"Is this man truly from North Yue State? Such overwhelming divine abilities... I wouldn't stand a chance against him!"

"With a single technique, he reduced a Huanming Sect expert to nothingness. Even if his opponent was blinded by arrogance, the sheer potency of that strike speaks volumes of this man's terrifying cultivation!"

"His methods are ruthless. To kill a disciple of the Huanming Sect so decisively... does he not fear the fallout? If this reaches the outside world, it could spell the doom of his entire sect. The Huanming Sect is no trivial power; rumors say they harbor a skeletal spirit pet left by their founding ancestor, a creature whose power rivals a Late-stage Golden Core expert!" Wei Qubing's eyes narrowed, a rare caution appearing in his pupils.

His gaze lingered on Reyn, his mind a whirlwind of silent calculations and hidden agendas. Yin Wuyu had long since smoothed his features into a mask of indifference, but the heat in the depths of his eyes had not cooled. Instead, it had merely retreated, burning with a concentrated intensity within his soul. Ge Yucheng's throat tightened as he swallowed hard, his face still pale with shock. It was clear that the display of the Earth-Shaking Finger had carved a deep mark of dread into his heart.

Only Xing Tianxie watched with a peculiar, burning light in his eyes. As he observed Reyn's retreating back, the resolve in his gaze seemed to harden into something unbreakable. Under the weight of their stares, Reyn's expression never wavered. His footsteps were deliberate and rhythmic, each step seeming to vibrate through the very chests of the onlookers. Though he had not said a word or made a threatening gesture, his mere presence now exerted a heavy pressure on everyone in the vicinity.

"Daoist Reyn, if you intend to use the teleportation gate to leave, I must ask that you first surrender your storage bag for our inspection." Wei Qubing's handsome face twitched. For reasons he couldn't fathom, this North Yue cultivator was making his instincts flare. The sensation was irritating. Although he had watched Reyn pulverize the Huanming Sect cultivator, his innate pride refused to accept that this man could truly be a threat to him.

It was a confidence born of noble blood—an arrogance that filled his very marrow. In truth, he and Yin Wuyu were of the same breed. Despite their differing temperaments, both occupied a height so lofty that they could not conceive of anyone truly standing as their equal. Yin Wuyu remained silent, but the icy glint in his eyes served as a silent endorsement of the demand. Outside One-Line Gorge, an oppressive silence took hold.

The gathered cultivators watched Reyn, their eyes now gleaming with a twisted sense of anticipation. This was the root of envy: they could accept the dominance of those born into power, even fawning over them. But when an underdog they had previously mocked suddenly displayed a power that dwarfed their own, their awe was replaced by a bitter resentment. They yearned to see this upstart brought low, and the prospect of Wei Qubing and Yin Wuyu humbling him filled them with a dark thrill.

They were terrified of Reyn's strength, yet their egos would not allow them to respect it. Thus, they waited for the two paragons to break him. In the midst of this volatile silence, Reyn slowly tilted his head upward. His eyes, as dark and unfathomable as the starry void, remained perfectly tranquil. He met the piercing gazes of the two leaders directly, his lips parting as he asked a simple question: "Do I know either of you?" Wei Qubing's face clouded as he slowly shook his head.

"We are not acquainted, Daoist."

"Then have I ever stood in your debt or received your favor?"

"None!" Yin Wuyu's gaze cut through the air like a whetted blade, his response curt and saturated with a suffocating, tyrannical aura.

"And do you perchance hold some leverage over me?" Reyn asked, his voice steady. Wei Qubing's expression grew somber. Sensing the increasingly sharp, provocative edge in Reyn's tone, his eyebrows twitched upward, transforming his habitually gentle visage into a mask of frigid indifference.

"None either," he stated flatly. Simultaneously, the throng of cultivators from various sects—who had gathered specifically to witness Reyn's arrogance being systematically dismantled—felt the atmosphere shift into a precarious, suffocating stalemate. Shock flickered in their eyes, and many found their mouths hanging slightly agape at the sheer audacity on display. Yet, amidst the rising tide of astonishment, one man remained remarkably composed.

Xing Tianxie's eyes burned with a fervent, predatory heat as he whispered to himself, "What is this? Do you truly intend to depart from this place with such a high-profile, defiant flourish?"

"But neither of these two are easy marks. Reyn, are you truly so confident that you can suppress them both simultaneously?"

"I find that the more I uncover about you, the more you are shrouded in an impenetrable mist. However, if you truly manage to walk out of this Trial Realm today with such blatant grandeur, then I, Xing Tianxie, shall sincerely count you as a brother-in-arms." Reyn's eyebrows arched playfully as a glimmer of genuine amusement flickered in his gaze. He stared at the two men standing mere zhang before him, the mockery playing across his lips entirely undisguised and biting.

"I do not know you."

"You have never granted me any favors."

"Nor do you hold any shameful secrets that might serve as leverage against me."

"Since that is the case, why in the world would I surrender my storage bag to two utterly irrelevant, inexplicably arrogant fools like yourselves?" That final remark, delivered with a look of nonchalant condescension as if he were peering down from a great height, finally shattered the composure of the two before him.