A battle between two powerful cultivators is supposed to be a majestic affair.
It should involve earth-shattering techniques, brilliant flashes of energy, and perhaps some dramatic, philosophical shouting about destiny.
The battle between Lin Ming and Inquisitor Vex, however, was mostly just embarrassing. For Vex, at least.
"I will pulverize you!" Vex roared, his voice straining slightly. He lunged forward, his hands crackling with a dark, violet energy—his signature Soul-Flaying Art. It was a terrifying technique designed to rip the very spirit from a victim's body.
Lin Ming didn't even move.
He just stood there, a calm expression on his face, as the violet tendrils of energy shot towards him. This was the moment Vex had been waiting for. This was the moment the arrogant human would be reduced to a screaming, soulless husk.
The soul attack hit Lin Ming squarely.
And did absolutely nothing.
It was like throwing a cup of water at a mountain. The formidable Soul-Flaying Art, a technique that had terrified Golden Core cultivators across the sector, simply... dissipated against Lin Ming's mental fortress. The Soul Pearl he had absorbed hadn't just fortified his mind; it had turned it into an impregnable citadel.
Vex stared, his three eyes wide with disbelief. "What? How is that possible? No one can resist the Soul-Flaying Art!"
Lin Ming shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I just have a strong will. Or maybe your technique is just... bad?"
The casual disrespect was more damaging than any physical blow.
Vex let out another furious shriek and was about to launch a second, more powerful attack when his body betrayed him again.
GURGLE-RUMBLE-GURGLE.
It was a sound of pure, liquid agony. Vex's face went from green to a concerning shade of white. He clutched his stomach, his powerful stance faltering. He had to divert a significant portion of his Qi just to maintain internal stability. It was like trying to fight a war on two fronts, and one of those fronts was a catastrophic civil war in his own bowels.
"Are you... okay?" Lin Ming asked, his tone laced with the kind of condescending pity one might use on a toddler who had just tripped over his own feet. "You don't look so good."
"I... will... END YOU!" Vex roared through gritted teeth. He abandoned his soul arts. If his spirit attacks wouldn't work, he would crush this human with pure physical force.
He shot forward, his movements a blur. He was still a Peak Golden Core master, and his physical speed was immense. He threw a punch aimed at Lin Ming's head, a blow that could shatter solid rock.
Lin Ming sighed. It was all so predictable.
He took a single step to the side, easily avoiding the punch. As Vex flew past him, Lin Ming stuck out his foot.
It was the oldest, most disrespectful trick in the book. A simple trip.
Vex, his balance already compromised by his internal turmoil, was completely unprepared for it. He caught his foot on Lin Ming's outstretched leg and went down. Hard. He sprawled across the cavern floor with a loud, undignified clatter of armor and pride.
He lay there for a moment, stunned. He, Inquisitor Vex, a being who had terrorized star systems, had just been... tripped. Like a child in a schoolyard.
"You seem to be having some trouble with your footing," Lin Ming observed helpfully, looking down at him. "Maybe you should focus more on your core strength. It seems a little... unstable at the moment."
The humiliation was absolute. Vex pushed himself up, his eyes burning with a shame so intense it almost eclipsed the roaring fire in his intestines.
He forgot strategy. He forgot technique. He was now just a cornered, embarrassed animal. He charged wildly, throwing a flurry of punches and kicks, each one powerful but lacking any focus or grace.
Lin Ming didn't even bother to counter-attack. He simply... walked.
He casually strolled around the cavern, Vex's furious attacks always missing by a hair's breadth. He moved with an easy, unhurried grace, his hands clasped behind his back as if he were enjoying a pleasant walk in the park.
He dodged a punch. He sidestepped a kick. He ducked under a wild swing.
It wasn't a fight. It was bullying. It was a master toying with a clumsy amateur.
"Hold still!" Vex screamed, his frustration mounting with every missed blow.
"Why?" Lin Ming asked, easily avoiding another punch. "This is more fun. It's good exercise."
Vex's desperation grew. He put everything into one final, powerful lunge. Lin Ming, seeing his chance, stopped walking.
He met the lunge. He didn't block it with force. He simply placed his palm on Vex's chest.
And then he introduced Vex to the principles of Earth Qi.
He didn't push. He applied weight.
An invisible force, like the gravity of a dwarf star, slammed into Vex. His forward momentum stopped instantly. His bones creaked. His armor groaned. The very air around him seemed to thicken and press in on him.
He was frozen in place, his fist inches from Lin Ming's face, but unable to move.
"See?" Lin Ming said, his voice calm. "This is what happens when you fight someone who's actually good at this."
He increased the pressure.
Vex's knees buckled. He was forced down, first to his knees, then flat onto his stomach, pinned to the cold stone floor by an impossible weight. He couldn't move a muscle. He was utterly, completely helpless.
The great Inquisitor Vex, the terror of the sector, the man who would be a Nascent Soul... was defeated. Not by a grand, epic technique, but by a combination of laxatives, a schoolyard trip, and a condescending lecture.
The battle was over. The disrespect, however, was just getting started.
Lying pinned to the floor, with the weight of a small moon pressing down on him, Vex experienced a cascade of emotions.
First came disbelief. How could this be happening?
Then came rage. How dare this primitive human humiliate him so completely?
And finally, overriding everything else, came a sudden, urgent, and catastrophic wave of intestinal panic.
The Qi he had been using to suppress the laxative's effects was now completely dedicated to not being crushed into paste by Lin Ming's gravity manipulation. The dam had broken.
A series of sounds, each more horrifying than the last, echoed through the once-silent cavern.
Lin Ming took a hasty step back, his nose wrinkling in disgust. "Okay, that's... that's just unsanitary."
Vex, in his final moments, was not a fearsome villain. He was a miserable, embarrassed creature, trapped in a prison of his own making, suffering the ultimate indignity.
"What... are... you?" he managed to gasp out, his voice a weak, strained whisper.
Lin Ming looked down at the pathetic figure. The time for games was over.
"I'm the guy who's going to make sure monsters like you never get to harm another innocent person again," he said, his voice flat and cold. "Fifty thousand people. You were going to murder fifty thousand people for a power-up. Did you ever stop to think about them? Their families? Their children?"
A flicker of defiance still burned in Vex's eyes. "They are insignificant! Primitives! Their lives are meaningless compared to the grand pursuit of the Dao!"
Lin Ming shook his head slowly. "That's where you're wrong. The pursuit of power without a conscience isn't the Dao. It's just... greed. And now, you get to pay the price."
He didn't want to drag it out any longer. The smell in the room was getting worse.
He raised his foot.
"This is for them," he said simply.
He channeled a final, devastating surge of Earth Qi into the gravity press. The force intensified a hundredfold.
There was no grand explosion. There was just a final, wet squelch.
Inquisitor Vex, the 300-year-old Peak Golden Core master, ceased to exist. He was reduced to a thin, unpleasant stain on the black rock of his own meditation chamber.
Lin Ming released the gravity pressure, a deep sense of satisfaction washing over him. It was done. The primary threat was neutralized.
[Battle Will System]
[Target Eliminated: Inquisitor Vex (Peak Golden Core)]
[Battle Assessment: Flawless Victory (with additional style points for psychological warfare)]
[Points Awarded: 75,000]
[Current Points: 225,000]
He now had more than enough points to break through to the Golden Core realm twice over. But he held back. The perfect, four-colored core required more than just power. It required the other elemental codices. Patience.
He took one last look around the cavern. His eyes fell upon the black rock Vex had been meditating on. It was the "Soul Stone" Zylak had mentioned. It felt cold, ancient, and filled with a dark, hungry energy. It was a vile object, designed for only one purpose: mass murder.
He raised his hand and a sphere of crackling Fairy Qi formed in his palm. He blasted the stone, not with force, but with purifying energy. The stone screamed—a high-pitched, psychic shriek—as its dark energies were unraveled and erased. Within seconds, it crumbled into harmless grey dust.
His work here was done.
He activated his comms. "Minerva, status report."
Minerva's voice was crisp and efficient in his ear. "Main gate secured, Leader. Quynh Nhu and Pham Tuan have neutralized all resistance in the outer courtyard. The fortress's command structure is in total chaos due to your... 'internal cleansing' initiative. We have full control."
"And the survivors?" Lin Ming asked, the most important question of all.
"They are safe," Minerva confirmed. "Pham Tuan is currently standing guard at the entrance to their prison-fortress. They seem... confused, but unharmed."
Relief washed over Lin Ming. "Good. Tell the team to start rounding up any remaining resistance. I'm on my way out."
He turned and walked out of the Chamber of Echoes, leaving the mess—both literal and metaphorical—behind him. He didn't look back.
The battle for the Yunnan fortress was over. It hadn't been a glorious, epic struggle. It had been a masterclass in psychological warfare, biological warfare, and overwhelming, disrespectful force.
And Lin Ming wouldn't have had it any other way.