Within a Square Inch, Falling Flowers Are Heartless

This soul skill was called "Within an Inch."

As the saying went...

As vast as the heart, so vast the world.

Within the confines of one's heart, a world could be transformed.

He had manifested his state of mind into a spiritual domain independent of the outside world.

This was "Within an Inch."

And all beings drawn into this space would be cut off from everything in the real world.

No matter what soul skills they unleashed within it...

They would not affect so much as a blade of grass outside.

This could effectively prevent these demonic heretics from using ordinary people's lives as threats.

Cao Xin had truly pulled the rug out from under them this time.

After all, he had come to slay demons and vanquish evil.

Not to let demonic heretics threaten him.

At that moment, the Evil Soul Master stared at Cao Xin in shock, panic creeping into his voice.

"Brat, what exactly did you do?!"

"Where is everyone?!"

"Where did they all go?!"

He looked around.

Yet as far as the eye could see, there was only blank whiteness.

It was as though heaven and earth were a canvas, and the two of them were its only brushstrokes.

Then, he glared viciously at Cao Xin.

"Fine."

"As long as I kill you, brat, I'm sure everything will disappear."

At that moment, he still believed that Cao Xin had used some sort of illusion-type soul skill to trap him in an illusion.

But under normal circumstances...

With his cultivation as a Five-Ring Soul King, ordinary illusions could not possibly trap him.

Yet the sense of reality within this blank space was far too intense, leaving him uncertain for the moment.

But as long as he dealt with the caster...

Everything would return to normal.

Thus, he hesitated no longer and raised both hands.

Dozens of resentful spirits emerged from behind him, every face carrying the final pain and hatred from their lives.

The resentful spirits all let out shrill screams.

The sound was ear-piercing and carried a spiritual assault.

But after Cao Xin attained enlightenment, his spiritual power had undergone a transformation.

It had already reached the Spirit Abyss Realm.

Deep as an abyss, vast as a sea, unfathomable to the bottom.

His sea of spirit was broad and profound, like a boundless deep ocean. The shrieks of those dozens of resentful spirits fell into it without even raising a ripple.

Moreover, his sea of spirit was protected by the emotions of sorrow and joy.

Mere resentful spirits could not affect him in the slightest.

At that moment, within the blank space...

A gentle breeze blew.

No one knew where the wind came from,

Nor where it was going.

It merely brushed through the empty whiteness, carrying a faint chill and the subtle fragrance of flowers.

Then, behind him...

A peach tree slowly emerged in the void.

Its trunk was gnarled and sturdy, its branches interwoven and spread wide.

Pink-white peach blossoms adorned every branch, blooming in clusters.

They trembled gently in the breeze.

The wind plucked petals from the branches, sending them dancing through the sky as they spiraled down...

Like a gentle yet magnificent rain of flowers.

The boy stood amid the falling blossoms.

His robes fluttered lightly, his features handsome and calm.

At a glance, he seemed like an immortal of the peach blossoms.

The scene carried an otherworldly grace, as though an immortal had stepped out from an ancient painting.

The Evil Soul Master frowned, staring gravely at the abruptly appearing peach tree and the falling blossoms...

The unease in his heart deepened further.

Yet he still refused to sound weak.

"Brat, what are you trying to pull?!"

"I am a Five-Ring Soul King! You're just a seven- or eight-year-old child. You think you can hurt me?"

"Although I don't know what you've done..."

"Once I catch you, I'll make you regret it!"

Though the Evil Soul Master had already vaguely sensed that something was wrong, he continued to put on a brave front.

The dozens of resentful spirits around him gave him a small measure of hollow confidence.

Cao Xin, however, looked dazed. His gaze passed through the peach blossoms filling the sky and toward the distant end of that blank expanse, as though he were looking at something far away—or perhaps at nothing at all.

Then he let out a soft sigh, carrying an indescribable enlightenment and release.

"Falling flowers have intent, but flowing water has none."

The moment the words fell.

The peach blossoms filling the sky danced with the breeze, pouring toward the Evil Soul Master.

Every petal shimmered with a clear radiance.

As they streaked through the air...

They left behind faint trails of light.

The Evil Soul Master curled his lip in disdain.

"Mere peach blossoms? Watch me break them!"

As he spoke, he summoned even more resentful spirits.

They lunged at the rain of flowers with claws and fangs bared.

But in the next moment, he was utterly shocked.

"How is this possible!"

The instant the resentful spirits touched the peach blossoms filling the sky, they were like ice and snow meeting the blazing sun.

Their resentment and ferocity rapidly dissipated.

Their twisted faces gradually returned to peace, while faint light belonging to the living reappeared in their hollow eye sockets.

They returned to their original forms.

Some were young girls, some were aged elders, and some were even mere children.

They all turned toward Cao Xin and gave slight bows. Their faces bore the peace of liberation before their forms turned into countless tiny motes of light, their souls returning to heaven and earth.

At that moment, the Evil Soul Master had lost a great number of resentful spirits at once, severely damaging his vitality.

Those resentful spirits had been collected through years of painstaking effort, each one carrying a portion of his origin.

Now, hundreds had been purified in an instant...

His face immediately turned deathly pale.

Then, he was buried beneath the peach blossoms filling the sky, eventually turning into a wisp of green smoke...

He vanished completely from that blank world.

And when the peach blossoms had all fallen.

The peach tree gradually turned transparent and faded away.

The blank space also dispersed.

Human voices returned.

The conversations of the passengers, which had seemed separated by a pane of crystal glass just moments ago, the laughter of children, and the footsteps of the attendants all came rushing back at once.

Sunlight streamed in through the train windows...

Casting warm patches of light across the seats and floor.

Cao Xin was still sitting in his seat.

He maintained the same pose by the window, one hand supporting his chin as he gazed calmly outside, as though he had never moved at all.

Not a single petal remained on him, and the hem of his clothes was as neat as before. Only deep within his eyes, there seemed to be a trace more tenderness than before.

The passengers chatted animatedly among themselves.

No one noticed what had just happened, nor did anyone notice that one person was missing from the carriage.

The train continued speeding between fields and mountains, while the scenery outside slowly drifted backward.

Only the Evil Soul Master had disappeared.

As though he had never existed at all.

But in the section of aisle where he had once stood...

A few faint traces of peach blossom fragrance remained, drifting through the air of the carriage for an instant.

Then they blended into the mingled scents of the mortal world, never to be found again.

An hour later...

The soul-guided train arrived at the station.

The passengers who had arrived prepared to get off.