The moment he entered the secret room, Xide became secretly on guard.
"Um?"
In front of him, in the very center of the secret room, stood a burly figure nearly two and a half meters tall, with his back to him.
This burly figure had short, red hair with needle-like strands, but wore an ancient-style sleeveless armor. His two thick, naturally hanging arms had a bronze hue, making them appear strong and powerful.
"You've come." The red-haired, burly man spoke casually and indifferently, but his voice seemed to have a magical power, subconsciously drawing people closer to him.
Then, the red-haired strongman turned around, revealing his true face. On his chiseled, square face were a pair of deep, blood-red eyes.
At that moment, the red-haired burly man was fixing his sharp gaze on him.
The red-haired, burly man's voice had a very unique melody, and his sudden shift in gaze could instantly immerse one in a thousand illusions, making it difficult to extricate oneself.
Xide felt a moment of disorientation, his attention suddenly unable to focus, and he fell into a daze.
"Submit to me!"
A mysterious will suddenly invaded, its voice booming in Xide's mind. The voice echoed endlessly in his head, seemingly containing a strange magic. The instant he heard it, Xide felt as if he were a fish out of air, his mind blank.
The next moment, it seems, will plunge us into eternal damnation!
" Xide!" A gentle female voice suddenly rang in his mind, instantly waking Xide up.
It's a trap!
Startled awake, Xide instantly realized that the slight unease he had sensed earlier was indeed not an illusion, and a chill ran down his spine.
He almost became a complete Soul Slave to this mysterious castle lord!
We must break through!
Xide had no intention of fighting the red-haired giant to the death. Instead, he instantly transformed into a black sword light and fled into the distance!
Outside the gate, an elderly man with white hair and a white beard, who looked like a kind old Youlai, was stroking his white beard in a good mood.
"This Darkfall Fiend hasn't been around for long, and its soul is rather ordinary. It's unlikely it can break free from Master's control." For each red-robed elder at the Seven-Star Fiend level that he successfully controls, his master will give him a considerable reward, perhaps even bestowing upon him a drop of Sovereign’s Might.
Just as the white-haired old man Youlai, was thinking this—
"Boom!" As if the sky were falling and the earth were splitting apart, a terrifying explosion spread out, cracking the entire passage and the gate, which then turned into rubble that scattered everywhere. The entire secret chamber collapsed completely, and a huge hole was punched through the top of the castle!
A black phantom shot out from there like lightning!
"Haha... Kid, I have to admire you a little. With your soul cultivation, you actually managed to break free from my control?" A deep, resonant voice echoed above the Hendsey Castle, while Xide looked pale-faced at the front of his body.
The two of them hovered above the castle, facing each other from afar.
"You are... Infernal Realm Asura!" Xide's heart sank, and he suddenly spoke loudly.
He had just discovered that this fortress lord not only possessed terrifyingly strong soul cultivation, but also astonishing speed. In the previous instant, the opponent had transformed into a red phantom and intercepted him. Now, he had nowhere to escape!
" Asura from the Infernal Realm? You could say that." The red-haired giant simply smiled faintly, seemingly not taking him seriously at all.
" Asura?" Upon hearing this, the black-clad youth, Xide, felt a chill in his heart, but he was not frightened. A Black Longsword appeared in his hand, and Destruction Divine Power surged from his body!
Without hesitation, he immediately unleashed his strongest move.
The Power of Destruction gathered frantically on the Black Longsword. He thrust out this sword with all his might, and the space split like water, with spatial cracks faintly visible.
"Your move is quite ingenious!" The red-haired giant was also somewhat surprised after seeing the sword strike, then laughed loudly and threw a punch in return!
He threw a punch, and strange, peculiar ripples spread outwards from his fist in all directions. Wherever the ripples touched, the rubble of buildings turned to dust. This punch seemed to land slowly and silently.
It looked slow, but it instantly met Xide's strongest sword strike, which he had unleashed with all his might!
The black sword tip collided instantly with that fist, which was as hard as steel!
A weak tremor ran through the space, without producing any earth-shattering sound.
The spatial rift created by Xide's sword twisted and changed direction, extending in other directions.
Just like a turbulent river encountering an unshakeable rock, it is forced to split!
"Boom!"
The countless spatial rifts shredded the surrounding buildings to pieces, but did not harm the lord of the castle in the slightest.
"What?"
Instead of being able to control himself, Xide was thrown backward by the force emanating from the fortress lord's fist, and even the longsword in his hand flew out of his grasp.
The strongest move has failed!
This was terrible news for Xide!
Previously, he had used this very sword to kill a veteran Seven-Star Fiend, Ulysses, on the Blood Peak Continent, thus becoming Seven-Star Fiend in one fell swoop.
He originally thought that with his strongest move, he could even put up a fight against Asura. But now it seems he is still far from that level.
After all, the lord of the fortress hasn't even taken out his weapon yet, which means he hasn't used his full strength to deal with him.
"What? Stop struggling?" The red-haired castle lord stood in mid-air, looking at him with a smile.
"Hmph! I admit your strength is astonishing, I was careless today. If you want to kill me, you can do it now, but if you want to Soul Control, you're dreaming!" The red-haired strongman's punch completely shattered his previous confidence.
He had thought that after becoming Seven-Star Fiend, even though Infernal Realm was vast, few could defeat him. Unexpectedly, he had capsized on Miluo Island today.
Not long ago, he had warned others not to be careless, but today, he himself had fallen into someone else's hands. Given the fortress lord's unfathomable strength, he no longer held any hope of escaping alive.
"Kill you?" Mosi shook his head upon hearing this. If I wanted to kill you, would you still be alive and kicking?
"Come with me, a lord wishes to see you. You know this lord before," the fortress lord added, then turned and flew downwards.
"Someone wants to see me?" Xide became suspicious again in an instant. Could this be another trap set by the lord of the fortress?
After all, he couldn't recall ever knowing any important figures before. And what kind of power must someone possess to command such respect from the lord of the fortress, who would willingly address them as "Sir"?
"Forget it, let him go and see. At worst, I'll just die." He had been able to break free from the fortress lord's Soul Control earlier, and now that he had a warning, it would be even more impossible for the fortress lord to control him again.
At worst, he could just commit suicide, rather than let the fortress lord's soul manipulation succeed.
After only a slight hesitation, Xide followed the red-haired castle lord and flew down towards the castle. At that moment, a large number of black-armored warriors were transporting black stones to repair the damaged parts of the castle at an extremely fast pace.
"Teacher (Master)!" Youlai and the others approached respectfully.
The red-haired lord nodded in acknowledgment, and then he and Xide continued flying downwards.
"Just who is this Xide?" Youlai and the others were puzzled. Xide had clearly failed to escape earlier, so why wasn't he killed by the castle lord?
Inside a secluded, spacious hall deep beneath the Hendsey Castle, there were many bookshelves on both sides. However, instead of books, these bookshelves held crystal balls the size of fists.
At this moment, a young couple is inside this hall.
The woman was watching the many Floating Shadow with great interest, while the young man quietly watched someone sitting at the tea table, with a cup of refreshing gold and silver exotic flower tea placed in front of him.
"My lord." The red-haired lord led Xide into the hall and bowed to the black-haired youth first.
At this moment, the black-haired youth had just picked up his teacup, taken a sip, put it down, and looked at the two of them.
This black-haired youth, with his simple actions of serving tea, drinking tea, and setting down the teacup, possessed a unique and natural beauty that seemed to Earth Aspect.
His captivating eyes were an unusual and rare pure black, as if they contained endless illusions and ephemeral beauty. Moreover, just sitting there, he seemed to be one with heaven and earth, giving people a sense of insurmountable grandeur and awe.
"It's you!" The young man in black, Xide, exclaimed in surprise.
The person sitting in the main hall right now felt both familiar and strange to him.
"What? Didn't we just meet not long ago?" The black-haired youth completely concealed his aura, instantly returning to his previous Pingping state.
"You..." Xide opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know where to begin.
For a long time, there was only silence.
" Mosi, you didn't hold back earlier, did you?" At this moment, Luo Ao spoke first. Judging from the situation of Xide's later fight with Mosi, Xide should obviously not have stepped into the threshold of Asura yet.
Under these circumstances, it was somewhat unbelievable that a Seven-Star Fiend who cultivated the Edicts of Destruction could break free from Mosi's Soul Control.
"Lord Luo Ao, I did indeed use all my soul techniques earlier, but Mr. Xide's will is extremely strong, and he managed to break free from my control at the last moment." Mosi admitted that he had indeed held back quite a bit in the later stages of the battle, but he had not slacked off at all in the earlier soul clash.
"Strong willpower?" Luo Ao had initially thought that Xide had relied on some kind of soul treasure to resist Mosi's Soul Invasion, but he hadn't expected it to be just his willpower?
"That's right. If a strong person has a strong enough will, it is indeed easier to see through illusions, Demonic Sound, and other similar Soul Bewilderment techniques." Mosi then added, "However, people with strong willpower like Xide are actually quite rare."
Generally, the stronger a person is, the more astonishing their willpower becomes. However, there are exceptions in a few cases, such as when some people who are relatively weak also possess a formidable willpower.
Such people, as long as they have decent talent and don't die young, will grow up to become powerful figures in their own right.
This willpower, though it is only an intangible thing, does indeed play a significant role in resisting pain, overcoming fear, and dispelling illusions.
In terms of pure soul cultivation, Xide is only at the level of an ordinary Seven-Star Fiend, but with his extraordinary willpower, he is able to barely resist his soul erosion.
Of course, this is on the premise that Xide's own soul cultivation is not too bad. If he were just an ordinary Highgod or even God, no matter how strong his willpower was, he would absolutely not be able to break free from his illusionary world.
"I see." Luo Ao nodded, accepting Mosi's explanation.