Akata stood there looking closely at the silver armored figure in front of him. He had a peak cultivation base like the rest of the figures but his was at the 6th Grade. A grade below that of Akata. The aura that was naturally radiating off of him was fine and noble. It was as if he was a knight standing guard over a castle. He just stood there looking right at Akata as if weighing him up.

After a long moment passed the figure finally spoke. He had a deep voice that echoed in this wide field. It sounded as if he were near and yet also faraway. His words rang into the ears of Akata who was some distance in front of him.

“You advanced quite rapidly in this trial. And considering your age you could be said to be the most talented person in the sect right now. Even better than that Jiandan Fuza. Given enough time you’ll surpass him.” He paused and slightly nodded his head at Akata showing his approval.

“The trial ends here. I am the last part. Other than you, there have been two other people who have made it this far, with two others almost making it. For making it this far and with it being your first time, I shall bestow you with a gift. It is up to you whether you can accept it or not.” The silver armored man raised the greatsword in his hand and held it out in front of him. “Prepare yourself.”

Akata’s eyes went wide with shock. The man himself seemed much more different than the other figures throughout the trial. He was more sentient and felt more alive yet he also didn’t seem to be living. But, that wasn’t what had shocked Akata. While the man’s aura and stature could be said to be great, it was the greatsword in his hands that caused Akata’s eyes to widen.

The blade of the greatsword was a crimson color while the hilt was a pitch black. It gave Akata an odd yet familiar feeling upon looking at it. Looking at the body of the greatsword caused Akata to feel a sort of suppression that he couldn’t stand up to. Simply, he had to look away otherwise he might drop to his knees from weakness.

Akata’s eyes were bloodshot and he bit his lip. Blood seeped out and he regained his focus. He found himself sweating profusely, his back cold and his clothes drenched. He immediately rotated his cultivation bases as best he could and stood on guard.

The silver armored man nodded his head and said, “Good. You pass the first strike. Now for the second.” He lifted the greatsword all the way in the air and slowly swung it down in a casual lazy manner. There seemed to be no skill involved at all yet an invisible wave of energy attacked Akata.

This wave of energy didn’t attack his body or his mind, but his soul. As soon as Akata felt his soul being attacked he knew what the familiar feeling was.

‘The Outer Element of Souls! He’s using the element of souls in that greatsword in order to attack. It was just a casual swing yet it has such a suppressive force!’ Akata was too surprised by this fact and his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

This was his first time battling against someone with the power to wield the element of souls. Instead of being overwhelmed, however, he was ecstatic. He had the power to use the element of souls but had no idea how to. This would be wonderful experience for him.

Akata rotated his crimson rune and golden rune to fight back against the suppressive force. Akata’s knees wobbled tremendously and his whole body went pale. It felt as if his soul was being battered by a hammer repeatedly. This was a type of pain that could not even be perceived by the body. Only the soul could understand this pain. Akata let out a hoarse and bloodcurdling wail as he endured this great pain. Not even the pain of having his body mutilated could compare to this. Compared to this, that feeling was like a bee sting while this was like being flayed.

Luckily, the feeling only lasted for a short amount of time, otherwise Akata would have passed out or suffered serious injuries. His eyes were dark and lifeless and his body looked extremely limp. But Akata stayed on his feet the whole time. It looked like if a slight breeze came through he would surely topple over.

Akata’s mind was filled with countless thoughts. Pain, terror, fear, and oddly enough admiration. He admired this strong power that he would be able to wield in the future. After a bit of time, his mind cleared up enough for him to think of other things. He soon came to a shocking realization.

‘He didn’t even directly attack me. Not only that, but he didn’t use anywhere close to his full strength. It probably wasn’t even ten percent.’ Fear swelled up in his heart, mind, soul, and body but Akata forcefully pushed it down as best he could.

He suddenly looked at the silver armored man in front of him and asked, “How much time has passed?” His voice sounded as if it were dragged along with each new word.

The silver armored man said without any emotion, “The first strike it took you 1 minute to come to. For the second strike you took a full… 5 minutes.”

Akata was beyond shocked. He spent a full 5 minutes to be aware of his surroundings once more. Given the strength of this figure, Akata could’ve died countless times already. Without even realizing it. This was a scary thought. If an enemy had used this against him he would’ve had no choice but to be at the mercy of that enemy.

The first strike alone would’ve been enough to take care of Akata in a fight. To say nothing of the second. Akata’s fear and admiration of this element kept on growing side by side.

“There’s one more strike but you won’t be able to take it.” The silver armored man said emotionlessly as he put down his greatsword and laid it in his hands the same way it looked when he first arrived.

“You have completed this trial now and can leave. Since you made it this far you will earn-” His words were instantly cut off.

“No! I want to continue.” Akata gritted his teeth and yelled out. His face was pale and filled with sweat. His eyes still showed a lingering fear that wouldn’t dissipate for a while. But his voice sounded completely determined.

“You wish… to continue?” The silver armored man said without emotion and hesitation. It watched as Akata earnestly shook his head yes. The man went silent for a long moment as if contemplating something. Finally he said, “Alright. Prepare for my third and final strike.” He lifted up the crimson greatsword in his hands and held it out with one hand.

“My third strike will consist of a skill that uses the Outer Element of Souls as the basis. I will merely use the power of a 6th Grade cultivator. If you can take this attack and remain standing then you will be rewarded heavily, if not you may die.”

When his words finished a crimson glow sprang out from his body. It looked similar to when Akata rotated his crimson rune and let the light shine out of his body. But with the silver armored figure it looked much more stable and in control.

Akata had a smile on his face as he rotated his crimson rune. Abundant crimson light showed out of his body and filled the field that he was in. The area quickly turned into a place where crimson light could be seen everywhere.

‘He uses a soul suppression technique. Although it looks like it comes from the greatsword, he actually ‘feeds’ his own power into it. It has gained so much of his power that it simply turned into it. Making it a kind of soul greatsword.

The suppression itself must come from the skill he is about to use. It mainly just bashes against my soul from all sides and keeps my mind occupied for a period of time. I just have to protect my soul from his attack and it won’t have any effect on me. But how am I supposed to do it?’

Akata thought and thought as he looked at the silver armored man until an idea slowly formed in his head. Suddenly, the silver armored man swung his greatsword in Akata’s direction sending out a wave of crimson sword-light. The sword-light looked incorporeal and rushed out like a ghost. It immediately arrived in front of Akata and bore into him.

“Spectral Heart… ” The silver armored man said calmly. This time his voice had a tinge of concern.

It seeked out his soul in an attempt to attack it directly. It made its way to Akata’s soul region and then found his soul. The crimson wave then wrapped around Akata’s soul like a blanket.

“... Shockwave.” He spoke the last words and then the blanket-like sword wave started to rapidly constrict on itself. But almost immediately right after it loosened back up. It then repeated and repeated. It actually resembled the beating of a heart. It was repeatedly crushing the soul over and over making this pain unbearable for anybody living.

Akata immediately coughed up a mouthful of blood and his vision began to fade and grow dark. He gritted his teeth long enough and forced his gold and crimson runes to rotate forcefully. Crimson and gold light illuminated everything within his soul region. Instantly, an intense heavenly pressure assaulted the sword-light. It trembled but continued to constrict Akata’s soul.

But then, the crimson light mixed in with the golden light and an absorption force exerted itself on the sword-light. It trembled even more vigorously and looked as if it might loosen its grip on Akata’s soul completely.

The silver armored man looked thoughtfully at what was happening. He raised an eyebrow but nothing more.

Akata threw his head back and let out a mighty roar. His skin began to crack from the intense pain and suppression his soul was feeling. “I WILL BREAK YOU!” He yelled at the top of his lungs.

His whole body turned into a red mist and his soul gained more freedom to fight back against the sword-light. Akata flashed an incantation gesture and slammed his hand on his chest. A glistening purple rune appeared within his soul region next to his wrapped up soul. A hand popped out of the rune and then forcefully grabbed onto the sword-light.

His runes began to spin faster and faster as he forced them to work harder than ever. The pressure from the gold rune and absorption effect caused the sword-light to tremble and weaken. The Red Cloud Formation technique gave Akata’s own soul more freedom to move and fight against the sword-light. And the hand from the Mirror Reflection forcefully pulled on the sword-light to tear it away.

All of this was happening at the same time. If it wasn’t for Akata’s monster amount of mental strength, he would’ve passed out from the burden.

The sword-light was already trembling from the runes. With the addition of the Red Cloud Formation and the Mirror Reflection it naturally broke away from Akata’s soul. Akata roared as he crushed the sword-light with his illusory hand and absorbed the energy with his crimson rune.

He looked at the silver armored man with a pale face and bedraggled expression. He gave a slight chuckle then passed out. Surprisingly, since the Spectral Heart Shockwave attack was launched till the time it was defeated by Akata, a whole 30 minutes had passed.