Life and Death Crisis

In the High Planes, a Saint-level expert might be nothing more than ingredients for a god-level powerhouse or raw material for crafting soul gold pearls. However, in the material plane, every single person is a brilliant and talented existence. Let alone the fact that Sean was only at the 8th rank; even if he had reached the peak of the 9th rank, encountering the weakest Saint-level expert would still be a life-or-death struggle with slim chances of survival.

Fortunately, the gap was not as insurmountable as that between a Saint and a god. In the original story, when Linley transformed and reached the 9th rank, he was able to put up a fight against a Saint-level expert from the church who had comprehended profound mysteries. Although he did not succeed in defeating a superior, he still possessed some ability to resist.

Although Sean was still at the 8th rank, his overall strength was barely at the 9th-rank level. However, compared to when Linley fought the Saint-level expert from the church in the original story, he was still inferior. It all depended on the level of the Saint-level expert before him.

"You are Sean, right? Then you must be Leilia?" the Saint-level expert hovering in the air said with a faint smile.

"Yes." Sean and Leilia did not deny it. The biggest problem with being famous was that enemies knew who you were, and it was impossible to keep their appearances secret. Besides, the Radiant Church had been at the height of its power before; who could have imagined such changes would occur in just a few years? Previously, there had been no need for absolute secrecy.

"The two of you can be considered geniuses of the Zhongyuan Continent, so I won't make things difficult for you." The Saint-level expert hovering in the air descended gently until he was in front of Sean and Leilia. Suddenly, his brows knit together, and two streaks of black light shot like lightning from between his brows toward Sean and Leilia.

The black light was incredibly fast, moving so quickly that Sean's eyes could barely track it. He watched as the black light shot into his head, and deep within his soul, a black thread surged toward his consciousness.

At that very moment, the Coiling Dragon Ring on Sean's finger flashed with cyan light. A terrifying soul force instantly surged from his finger into his brain, and the black thread was annihilated the moment it touched this power. Afterward, the ring's energy receded.

Is this soul control? Although Sean did not practice death magic, he knew that only a Saint-level magus practicing death magic could control an 8th-rank warrior with Saint-level power. Only the Death Law was most adept at soul control. In the original story, when the god-level expert Grand Magus was in the Yulan Plane, he could control Saint-level experts. It was likely that when he was at the Saint level, he could control those of lower ranks.

"Haha, two geniuses, just like that, controlled by me." The Saint-level death magus laughed heartily.

"Congratulations to Lord Cyrus for acquiring new puppets," the black-clad men beside him flattered. Clearly, this was not the first time they had encountered such a scene while following the Saint-level death magus.

"What a pity. After being soul-controlled, their talent will surely not be as formidable as before," the Saint-level death magus Cyrus said with a cold laugh. "However, if I order them to return and slaughter the people of the Radiant Church, or even their own kin, that would certainly be interesting."

"Great Elder, should we charge into Shengyue City from this tunnel?" one of his subordinates asked.

"Are you an idiot? Even if Shengyue City is weak right now, do you think we are going to our deaths with just the few of us?" Cyrus said coldly.

"Yes, yes, yes." The person who had been scolded retreated immediately, not daring to say another word. However, he felt some resentment in his heart. This Cyrus actually had mediocre talent; he had just had a stroke of luck, broken through to the Saint level, and now he was already acting bossy toward them.

"Eh, spatial rings?" Cyrus suddenly noticed the rings on Sean and Leilia's hands. His eyes lit up as he said, "Remove the blood-binding from your spatial rings."

"Yes." After Leilia finished speaking, he immediately removed the blood-binding from his ring and threw it out.

Seeing this, Sean had no choice but to follow suit. It seemed that this Saint-level death magus's soul control ability was not very strong, as he didn't even realize that Sean had not been controlled. But thinking about it, it made sense; after all, he was only at the Saint level. He probably only knew how to use some techniques of the Death Law blindly and was not proficient at all. This was likely due to the machinations of the Death Sovereigns to facilitate proselytizing and gain faith power.

Suddenly, Leilia, who had walked near Cyrus, pulled a dagger from his hand and fiercely stabbed at the Saint-level death magus Cyrus, who was issuing orders.

"You..." Cyrus was taken aback, but he was not worried.

He was a Saint-level magus. Although he had only just broken through, being approached by an 8th-rank warrior at such close range would be a bit troublesome, but it was impossible for him to suffer any real harm. Any defensive magic he could conjure would not be something an 8th-rank warrior could break. If it were a 9th-rank warrior, the threat would be significant.

In fact, he had rushed to Shengyue City this time specifically to find an opportunity to obtain the corpse of a Saint-level warrior and refine it into a puppet using death magic, which would compensate for the weakness of his own body.

"Puchi." The sound of a blade piercing flesh rang out. Leilia's dagger easily passed through the Saint-level death magus's left hand, severing it completely.

"A divine artifact!" The Saint-level death magus was shocked and retreated like lightning. After all, he was a Saint-level expert; even if he wasn't skilled in speed, he was still faster than an 8th-rank warrior. Once he reached a distance, he unleashed a wave of black energy that struck Leilia, who was holding the dagger. The dagger was an offensive divine artifact with limited defensive capabilities, and Leilia was sent flying by the blow, landing on the ground and coughing up blood.

"Hahaha, you half-human, half-ghost freak! How does the taste of this granddaddy's dagger feel?" Leilia seemed to know he couldn't escape and laughed heartily instead.

"You actually have a divine artifact? It seems you have a good relationship with those god-level experts from the Radiant Church. But how are you still maintaining your consciousness?" Cyrus didn't care about the insult and asked instead.

An 8th-rank warrior wielding a divine artifact, even if he couldn't unleash much of its power, still possessed an attack force exceeding that of a 9th-rank warrior. At close range, he had indeed been injured. However, obtaining an extra divine artifact was worth it.

"I won't tell you even if I die," Leilia said with a cold laugh.

"Hmph, very well. After you die, the divine artifact will be mine." Cyrus glanced at his severed left hand; once it left his body, the hand withered rapidly.

He had only recently become a Saint-level magus, and death magic caused great damage to the body. His physical form was much weaker than that of other normal Saint-level magi. Under normal circumstances, he would need to spend some time to recover, and if it weren't for the Darkness Church's siege on the Radiant Church, he wouldn't have rushed out.

However, although his hand was severed, he could still recover later if he found a Water-element Saint-level magus skilled in recovery magic. The Water God Sect had many such experts, though he would inevitably have to pay a significant price.

"However, you won't die so easily. I will make your good brother kill you himself." Cyrus's voice gradually turned cold, and he ordered Sean, "You, come over here and kill him."

Leilia was stunned. He looked at Sean, who had been standing to the side, and suddenly felt a pang of sorrow. He knew he probably couldn't escape, and dying was one thing, but to die at the hands of his brother—if Sean's consciousness were to recover later, how much pain would he be in?

However, he had been severely injured and couldn't even stand up; he had no ability to resist. Although his father had given him a divine artifact and some treasures to protect himself, he was only at the 8th rank after all. Facing a Saint-level enemy, he was ultimately too weak.

"You are to kill him slowly, cutting his flesh off piece by piece," Cyrus said viciously.

"Yes." Sean walked toward Leilia. Suddenly, a purple longsword appeared in his hand. Then, with lightning speed, he turned around and thrust it directly into Cyrus's head with his strongest battle qi.

PS: Signed the contract, requesting monthly tickets.