The feeling of dread was a cold dark ocean drowning Li Yu's thoughts. His own nature which had been screaming at him to hide and not get involved was now howling in a final, vindicated "I told you so" as his doom approached.

But Li Yu was not dead yet.

He was pinned, trapped in a cage of solidified space and held fast by the death-grips of eleven Soul Formation Praetorians. He was in terror but that terror now fueled a final berserk rage.

"Get off me!" he roared and his physical strength exploded. He let go of his staff as it wasn’t very effective at this range and relied on his hands and limbs. They were moving with bone-breaking force. He shattered the arm of the drone holding his left. He slammed his elbow back with such force that it caved in the chest of the one on his back. He was still fighting, still killing, even as his soul was being stolen.

He had nearly killed all of the Praetorians that had come at him in their suicide attack. With a final, desperate roar, he broke the neck of the last one clinging to his leg. Its body went limp, its grip finally loosening.

But it was too late. He was still trapped.

The moment he'd finished killing the remaining ones, his Leviathan Nascent Soul left his body and materialized in the world.

It was out. Floating in the open air. It was glorious, terrifying and much bigger than the purple soul. Where the purple leader's Nascent Soul was a miniature version of itself, Li Yu's was a golden-black leviathan, easily five times the size of the purple soul. Its scales were shimmering with all different types of energies and its eyes looked ancient and cold.

Upon seeing the leviathan the purple creature flinched and took a few steps back. It looked like it was surprised or shocked but Li Yu wasn’t paying any attention to it. It didn’t do anything else after that, only focusing on its own soul.

The spatial-locking barrier created by the crystal treasure held Li Yu's physical body but it had no effect on a non-physical Nascent Soul. The Leviathan Soul drifted through the barrier wall without any issue. It came to a stop just a few feet in front of the small purple Nascent Soul.

Li Yu could only watch as he continued to smash into the cage with his staff.

"COME BACK!" he focused internally, commanding his soul with all his mental might. "RETURN TO ME!"

But his Leviathan Soul did not respond. It hung in the air where it was, motionless. Its eyes fixed on the tiny purple figure before it. It didn’t seem like it was being controlled by the Xylarri but it also wasn't obeying him. It was operating on an instinct he couldn't comprehend.

Frantic, Li Yu continued to turn his rage on the cage. He smashed his staff again and again against the invisible crystal-like wall. CLANG! The wall shuddered but held. He hammered on it again and again, his monstrous strength useless against this artifact.

He could only simply watch. Helpless.

The purple Nascent Soul, floating before his massive Leviathan Soul seemed to exude an aura of arrogant satisfaction. It reached out one of its tiny, crystalline hands and pointed at the Leviathan. Then, it made a clear unmistakable gesture: a sharp downward motion. It was commanding him to bow.

At the same time, its other hand was moving in the air. It was weaving a complex intricate pattern of purple light. A technique of some kind. It looked like a tiny self-proclaimed god demanding fealty from a primal titan.

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Li Yu's blood ran cold. 'Is it trying to enslave my soul? Or destroy it?' Whatever it was, it was happening now and he was trapped, a spectator to his own execution.

His Leviathan Soul was still, having not moved an inch since it came in front of the purple soul. It just floated there, its massive form eclipsing the purple leader's physical body, its eyes placid.

The purple Nascent Soul seemed to take this stillness as submission. Its hand that was weaving the technique stopped moving, a seal of sorts formed and was now glowing brightly between its fingers. It had finished its preparation.

The purple Nascent Soul drifted forward, its hand holding the glowing purple technique reaching out to touch the Leviathan's massive head.

The instant its tiny, purple fingers were an inch away from the Leviathan's head, Li Yu's Nascent Soul moved.

It was not a command from Li Yu. It did so on its own.

The Leviathan's placid eyes flashed with a sudden rage. As if the very notion of being touched by this... lesser thing... was an unpardonable offense.

It roared. A silent, soul-shaking roar that Li Yu felt in his very bones. The purple Nascent Soul felt it too but it was much more damaging to it. Locking it in place and stunning it from moving.

The Leviathan’s massive fanged mouth opened in a cavernous dark void. The movement was so fast, it was just a blur.

The purple Nascent Soul, its arrogant posture instantly turning to one of terror, tried to dodge. But it was far too slow from the roar. CHOMP.

The Leviathan's mouth snapped shut. The purple Nascent Soul, the glowing seal and the arrogant posture was all gone. Devoured in a single, lightning-quick and contemptuous bite.

The battlefield went silent.

The purple leader, its physical body still holding the spatial-locking crystal froze completely. Its multiple black eyes, which had been glowing with triumphant light, went vacant. Its body went limp as soon as its purple soul was devoured. It fell from the sky like a stone and the treasure it was holding turned to dust.

As the crystal's power died the spatial lock on Li Yu shattered.

He, however, didn't move. He was staring at the scene in front of him utterly dumbfounded. His own Nascent Soul was now floating placidly in the air as if nothing had happened. It would seem that whatever technique or thing was being done didn’t effect it.

‘You could have at least told me or communicated to me!’ Li Yu thought to himself. He nearly killed himself with anxiety and dread.

‘That... that's how it ended?’

His Nascent Soul was seemingly satisfied because it turned back to him and with a lazy flick of its tail zipped to him. It passed through his forehead and settled back into his Ocean of Qi with a feeling of sated contentment.

Li Yu dropped to one knee in the air and was gasping. What happened earlier was truly terrifying and he never wanted to find himself in such a situation again. Thankfully he was safe and he was alive.

He frantically checked his spiritual sea. His Leviathan Soul was fine, resting in the ocean and looking even more vibrant than before. But... Li Yu could feel it. The purple Nascent Soul wasn't gone. It wasn't destroyed or broken down, not yet.

It was inside his Leviathan Soul, trapped in what he could only describe as its "stomach." It was just a swirling condensed purple ball of pure soul energy now and it was being held there. It wasn't being digested; it was just... there.

His Nascent Soul was simply too crazy. It didn't just kill its enemy; it ate it and was apparently saving it for later.

He was still processing this bizarre, anticlimactic victory when he felt it.

The energy. The overwhelming tidal wave of energy.

It was the culmination of everything. The energy from the thousands of drones he had devoured. The energy from the Praetorians in all his fights. And now the massive final burst from the Soul Formation elites he had just killed and absorbed. And now... the raw power of a consumed Nascent Soul radiating from within his own.

It was the final push.

A feeling of unstoppable transformation surged through him. His Ocean of Qi began to boil. It was churning and expanding at a terrifying rate. His Nascent Soul roared from within, its power exploding outwards. The unknown thing in his Ocean of Qi pulsed violently, absorbing the last of the purple energy and finally beginning to reveal its true form.

The entire world seemed to go silent. Li Yu looked up, his blood running cold for a different reason. Massive swirling clouds of qi energy was gathering all around him. Like it knew he was ready for the final push towards Soul Formation.