Book 6, Chapter 86: Wind Silence Breach
After half an hour, Tormuncardo had fallen.
Five hundred Astrals all died in battle.
Their defeat had occurred so rapidly not only because of Su Chen’s medicine, but more importantly because of their own personal strength.
Those Astrals never would have expected to run into tens of thousands of Light Shaking Realm cultivators who were fully capable of steamrolling them.
Throughout Astral history, it was quite commonplace for them to win fights even when they had lower numbers to begin with.
By relying on their trickery and elusiveness, they were able to defeat powerful foes time and time again.
But no matter how proficient they were in fighting with a numbers disadvantage, that experience was virtually useless in the face of absolutely dominant strength.
There was no chance that five hundred or so Astrals would be able to take on 27,000 Light Shaking Realm cultivators. The massive gap in strength ensured that they would lose. This battle had only created a ripple which quickly disappeared.
After Tormuncardo fell, the Boundless Sect relentlessly marched onwards.
Past Tormuncardo was the Wind Silence Breach.
Wind Silence Breach was a stretch of rubble canyon, with piles of stones that reached towards the heavens. A massive hurricane had torn through the canyon, resulting in a twisted, winding pathway.
In fact, this hurricane was not only wind but also Origin Energy.
The Origin Energy in the Wind Silence Breach was incredibly chaotic and energetic, forming a natural region of turbulent Origin Energy. As such, it was much harder to control Origin Energy when inside the canyon.
The main reason for this phenomenon was the massive breach at the center of the canyon. This breach was the real Wind Silence Breach.
Wind Silence Breach was a half-open spatial fissure. It was connected to the void, but not completely so, resulting in the chaotic flows of Origin Energy. Given that the canyon also contained Demonstar Ore, which could influence the flow of Origin Energy, it was only natural that this place was incredibly dangerous. Only the Astrals would be able to survive in this kind of environment.
As such, any Origin Qi Scholars that stepped foot into this place would need to be incredibly careful. Both the turbulent Origin Energy and the chaotic spatial flows were very dangerous.
The Wind Silence Breach was also one of the Gloomy Kingdom’s four most defensible positions.
These four areas were inherently dangerous and served as natural protection for the Astrals.
Because the Astrals lacked the strength to repel a full-on frontal assault, they had chosen to erect their kingdom in a naturally dangerous location to survive. Wanlai Caves, Reaper’s Palace, Nightmare Forest, and Wind Silence Breach were the four most famous locations.
These dangerous environments were the best natural protection. Any army that dared to attack through that avenue would need to first fight against the environment itself, then deal with the Astrals utilizing the terrain to unleash sneak attacks.
This was how the Gloomy Kingdom had existed for tens of thousands of years without ever falling.
“The Wind Silence Breach is just in front of us. This region is incredibly vast, and torrential Origin Energy is everywhere. We must be incredibly careful,” Li Chongshan said as he pointed off in the distance.
Su Chen could faintly see a long spatial fissure stretching across the sky off in the distance. That was almost certainly the Wind Silence Breach. Via his spatial perception, Su Chen could sense familiar fluctuations emanating from that breach.
He smiled slightly. “Wind Silence Breach is a natural no-mans-land? Not to me. Order the troops to attack. I will handle that spatial fissure.”
As he spoke, he flew off towards the breach.
Li Chongshan gave the order, and the Boundless Sect’s disciples let out a war cry as they charged forwards.
The danger of the spatial fissure was threefold: the turbulent Origin Energy, the Astrals themselves, and the wind blowing through the spatial fissure. The turbulent Origin Energy and the Astrals went hand-in-hand, because it was only a problem when facing off against the Astrals. The turbulent Origin Energy on its own actually didn’t pose much of a threat to the Origin Qi Scholars.
The wind blowing through the spatial fissure was another matter entirely.
As the wind blew through the breach, it would carry with it the destructive powers of the void.
Even though this wind was not nearly as frightening as the void itself, it was still more than capable of wiping out all lifeforms in the canyon. Only Spirit Burning Realm cultivators would be able to withstand the spatial energy, and only just barely.
Su Chen immediately flew towards the breach at breakneck speed.
Just as he was flying through the air, a consciousness spike suddenly whistled towards Su Chen. Su Chen harrumphed, and the energy rebounded to his attacker. A groan could be heard off in the distance as an Astral took flight and flew away.
Upon seeing that his target hadn’t actually died, Su Chen couldn’t help but sigh respectfully. These Astrals were indeed powerful, given that they could withstand his might, which was on par with that of a Sovereign at this point. Of course, he had only attacked in passing and hadn’t been very serious in the first place.
As he continued to fly forwards, a pale green wind rushed towards Su Chen.
There was another Astral trying to drag Su Chen into an illusion realm so that it could use its will to do battle with Su Chen.
However, Su Chen reemerged from the illusion realm after only a second, as if he had not even been dragged in in the first place. The Astral that had tried to pull Su Chen into the illusion had been killed on the spot and was turning to dust.
As he continued to fly forwards, a sudden barrage of Origin Skills came hurtling in his direction.
At least seven or eight Astrals had chosen to attack Su Chen simultaneously.
“Oh? So you do know how to abuse your numbers advantage after all,” Su Chen chuckled.
He seemingly remained motionless, but the wings on his back unfurled, scattering powerful thunderbolts pealing in all directions.
The awe-inspiring thunderstorm bore down on top of the Astrals.
Lightning was super effective against Astrals. Humans had learned this a long time ago during one of their many fights against the Astrals.
Su Chen was a Tenth-Ring Lightning Arcana Master, so this storm of lightning and thunder was particularly effective.
Even though this storm was obviously not capable of destroying the world, it was more than powerful enough to decimate a localized region entirely, not to mention the Astrals within that region.
As the thunder rumbled violently through the air, all of the Astrals within range of the storm were immediately killed.
“Not bad,” Su Chen chuckled to himself as he continued to advance.
This storm of lightning petrified the other Astrals hiding in the darkness.
This Tenth-Ring Arcana Technique clearly demonstrated that their opponent was at least a Tenth Ring Arcana Master.
And most cultivators wouldn't’ have been capable of unleashing a Tenth-Ring Arcana Technique due to the chaotic flow of Origin Energy in this location.
No one had ever managed to even unleash a Ninth-Ring Arcana Technique before in Wind Silence Breach.
Now, however, Su Chen had casually unleashed such a powerful strike with virtually no effort at all on his part. Not even a legendary Arcana Master should have been able to do this!
So who exactly was their opponent?
An existence even stronger than a legendary Arcana Master?
They had never heard of this before.
The sheer might of the sudden onslaught had completely stunned all the Astrals present, dulling their mental capacities.
What exactly had just happened?
Were they under an illusion?
This couldn’t possibly be real. Right?
The masters of illusion suddenly began to question their state of consciousness, wondering if they had perhaps been the ones who had fallen victim to an illusion.
As they turned their gaze on Su Chen again, they realized that he was still calmly walking towards the spatial fissure.
His movements were unhurried, but every step he took greatly reduced the distance between him and the fissure. In fact, he had already entered the region that was the most affected by the spatial wind.
The destructive wind there was so powerful that even the Astrals didn’t dare to get close. However, Su Chen appeared as nonchalant as ever.
What was he going to do?
Was he trying to commit suicide?
The Astrals couldn’t understand.
They couldn’t understand what the person in the sky was trying to do, but that didn’t stop them from recognizing the immense threat heading their way.
This sense of threat masked even the war cries of the countless Boundless Sect disciples following behind.
One of the high-tier Astrals flew into the air. “Who are you? I am Commander Harrater of the Wind Silence Breach, and a member of the Astrals’ society of elders. I......”
Su Chen raised his hand. “I’m not interested in knowing who you are. Get out of my way.”
As he spoke, he waved his hand, and the Astral was swatted aside like a fly.
He had actually wanted to kill the Astral with that strike, but high-tier Astrals were quite powerful in their own right. His body rippled as he withstood the powerful strike. Even so, the Astral was quite badly startled. He had been forced to use his defensive trump card, the Forbidden Spatial Armor. Even so, Su Chen’s attack managed to shatter it in mere moments.
And even though Su Chen hadn’t managed to kill the Astral, he was much more serious this time, so the remaining momentum washed over the Astral, forcing him to slam into the ground face first.
The high-tier Astral had never suffered such humiliation before, and his anger surged. “Bastard!”
However, a moment later, he saw Su Chen officially begin wading upstream of the spatial storm.
The frightening destructive power of the spatial storm could rend flesh from bones. Only Harrater dared to enter such a place, and that was where he had tempered his Forbidden Spatial Armor.
When he saw Su Chen step into such a realm, Harrater thought to himself, You must be trying to kill yourself!
He began to follow closely after Su Chen in order to see if he could find an opportunity to kill Su Chen.
Harrater unleashed the Forbidden Spatial Armor as soon as he stepped inside the region as well, allowing him to be unaffected by the spatial wind.
He could only observe, however, as Su Chen calmly advanced on the fissure.
Harrater was stunned. He had never expected that the spatial wind would actually be completely ineffective against Su Chen as well. But when he saw that Su Chen was still heading deeper in, his worries were momentarily assuaged.
The further in one went, the more powerful the spatial wind would be. After all, spatial power was inherently destructive and possessed the capability to completely rend any living creature.
There was no way that his opponent would survive.
He was going to personally see to it that this human died. When Harrater thought this to himself, he gritted his teeth and continued to follow Su Chen deeper in.
The further they flew, the stronger the wind grew, and even Harrater was beginning to find it hard to withstand the violent power of the void despite the fact that his Forbidden Spatial Armor was still active.
He was only strong enough to wander around the outskirts of this region and never dared to go in any further. The person before him, however, seemed to be capable of completely ignoring these winds.
Harrater fell into despair when he saw this.
He knew now that this human was far stronger than he had anticipated. It was very likely that the Wind Silence Breach was finished.
At this point in time, he was still thinking about Wind Silence Breach. The thought that the Astrals might be finished never even crossed his mind.
Since he couldn’t withstand the violent storm, he could only retreat.
“You’re going to leave now?” Su Chen called out. “I thought you would have been able to follow me in a little deeper. How disappointing.”
Harrater was stunned. He watched as the human in front of him reached behind him, pulling Harrater involuntarily into his grasp.
Most shockingly, the spatial storm was completely incapable of harming him as soon as the human grabbed onto him.
Su Chen held him firmly in one hand as he continued advancing on the fissure.
“What a giant rupture. Every second, it is consuming the land and resources of the Primordial Continent, and even its Origin Energy......” Su Chen muttered to himself before reaching out and placing his hand on the fissure.
A shocking scene appeared.
The fissure slowly began to seal itself.
“This...... How is this possible? No, you cannot do this!” Harrater cried out with a loud voice.
If the fissure was sealed, the Wind Silence Breach would disappear, and the Gloomy Kingdom would have lost one of their four strategic defensive locations.
“I didn’t bring you along with me so that I could listen to you complain,” Su Chen replied.
He grabbed Harrater before his figure suddenly flickered. This time, he reappeared within the void, at the same time undoing Harrater’s defenses.
The void almost instantaneously swallowed Harrater up.
Under the violent deconstructive force of the void, Harrater had been transformed into a unique crystalline object that was notably distinct from the Sovereign statues.
Su Chen casually shattered the crystal, and a flow glowing objects appeared in his hand.
“So these are Void Crystals! They are indeed the product of a destroyed consciousness. This is different from what happens to most typical lifeforms.”
Su Chen began to grow excited.
These Astrals were all precious treasures!