Nine Venoms Sect Founder

In the Landgrave hierarchy, the 14th and 17th ranked around the middle, and in their millions of years of unlife, never had they experienced such abuse. It was like sinking to the bottom of a quagmire—unable to breathe or die. Innovative pathogens clashed with their Anasrava-level bodies, challenging the limits of their stainlessness while the foul stench of blight and decay filled their nostrils to the brim. Detached from his neck, the 14th Landgrave's head independently thrashed against gray filaments. At the same time, Death, Withering and Noxious Essence, battered his headless body which, still connected to him, fed him its pain.

The 17th fared no better. His punctured brain couldn't understand why Harun's ability possessed such extreme suppression and corrosion powers. And who could blame him? If before, Harun's physique ability could dominate its victims with ease—following his incarnation breakthrough—it reached a whole new level of potency. Should things carry on this way, it wouldn't be long before the Death and Withering Essence overwhelmed the Sanguine Dolls' defenses and reduced them to ashes—the thought scared them witless. 

Letting out guttural howls, the Sanguine Dolls unleashed the complete might of their golden lightning marks. Radiant bolts flickered around the duo, pushing against the swamp's suppression to help them escape the incoming tragedy. Turning into golden lightning bolts, the dolls not only broke free from the swamp but also healed all their wounds. Even the 14th's head landed back on his body. 

Eager to test all his abilities, Harun didn't increase the pressure. After all, when would he find such prime training material again? A three meters tall oak tree appeared at Harun's back, with its leaves, trunk and branches burning in multicolored flames. 130 flaming skulls orbited the tree—akin to burning worlds around a star. As soon as the flames appeared, the Sanguine Dolls flinched This change in countenance didn't escape the Birusk camp. Matter of fact, Harun was particularly disturbed. "Wait, wait. Are they like dwarf vampires? But then where are the fangs and shit?" Harun blurted his thoughts out, causing confusion in the troops. 

"Dwarf vampires? Care to explain what that means?" Jiyan inquired, making Harun realize he'd forgotten to keep his mouth silent. "Never mind that. The cultural gap is too deep for you to understand. Even I don't have a full grasp of what that means. Just think of pale-skinned bloodsuckers, with impractical fangs and poor sunscreen deals," Harun dismissed the question with a hand wave. Birandar wanted to say that the Sanguine Dolls were neither pale-skinned nor bloodsuckers, while Mukri didn't believe that Harun was ready for midget jokes. But realizing that those words would only get them beaten to a pulp, they kept their mouths shut. The Sanguine Dolls' eyes squinted at the Scorching Soul Tree, whose potential they couldn't assess yet. 

In the previous darkness, the two's eyes were like glowing red hues. But now that the radiant flames illuminated the dim cave, their childish faces stood in full view. Exchanging a complicit glance, the 14th and 17th Landgrave pushed their strength to limit. A golden barrier formed around them, suppressing all evil that came too near. Blood-red energy lines snaked around their slender arms and tiny fists, driving their vitality and fleshly bodies' strength beyond the peak. In tandem, the two stepped forward, crossing an invisible space portal to arrive at Harun's right and left. Ten flaming skulls merged to form two larger bombs that fired straight at the Landgraves' heads. The pyromania that previously flashed in their eyes vanished, replaced by a disdainful sneer. 

A Blood-colored water barrier formed around their bodies, meeting the flaming skull bombs in a head-on blast. Unmoved by the explosion, Harun remained on his lotus throne. The smoke cloud dispersed, revealing the unharmed Sanguine Dolls whose claws hacked at Harun's eyes and neck. Clearly, the fear they showed for Harun's flames was nothing more than a con aimed at reducing their foes' vigilance.

Whirling 360, Jiyan swept her sword in a flawless arc, tearing gashes in the two dolls' strengthened palms. Extreme Yin and Withering Essence oozed out of her sword, infiltrating their stainless bodies. Again, the golden lightning bolts clashed with the destructive forces, suppressing their effects fast enough that the dolls went on undisturbed, and rammed their knees into either side of Harun's neck! 

The Plague Overlord's lips curled up. Life Essence gushed out, spreading throughout the soil and turning everything across 100 square meters into Harun's home field. Dancing lianas sprouted from the ground, binding the two's legs. Stopped mid-move and struggling to escape, they panicked, creating an opening Jiyan's sword would never miss. By the time the two had regained their composure, the lady's blade had forced its way through and hacked their adamantine waists, splitting them into two halves. Using the ghastly wound as an opportunity, the Sanguine Doll rushed out of Harun's reach, leaving their bleeding lower bodies behind. 

But while they could heal from almost everything in a finger snap, the foul, oppressive essence in Jiyan's sword robbed them of 1,000 years' worth of lifespan with each swing. Granted, Anasrava-level refiners could live for much longer than the average God, but they were still far from immortality. At this rate, before the pair found the root of their "immortality," Jiyan's Withering Essence would drain their lives. Bitting their lower lips, the Sanguine Dolls made their lower bodies detonate, hoping to blast Harun into pieces. But teeming with Life Essence, the lianas suppressed the explosion, grinding it into an unremarkable puff of smoke. 

Activating his third eye, Birandar analyzed the composition of the two's bodies. "They both have a red crystal underneath their brains. That crystal seems to be the root of their lives," Birandar inferred, and Harun, who also examined his opponents through his Life Essence, came to a similar conclusion. "Love, show me your new tricks," he whispered. A mischievous smirk flashed on Jiyan's face, and just like the Sanguine Dolls, she vanished through an invisible space portal. Lowering his eyes, Harun placed his hands on the ground, which—under his manipulations—turned into a lush green prairie. 

The limits of Harun's Life Essence gushed out, making woody trees rise from the soil and fill all corners of the cave hall. From the start, the dolls didn't expect that Harun possessed such a mastery of Life Essence—believing him limited to Yin, Souls and Withering—a lethal mistake. By the time the forest took shape, it was too late. Branches and lianas shot out in the hundreds, leaving the tiny two little room for maneuver. Worse, whenever they attempted to use their space portals, Jiyan would pop out of another one and stab at their skulls.

It was as if the pair had seen through all their moves and covered all openings before they arose. Thus, in the greatest dance of their abject lives, the dolls spun and twirled to avoid this impeccable combination, but were soon overwhelmed and sent flying by several vine swipes. The two crashed into the same trunk—where Jiyan's sword popped out and stabbed into the 17th Landgrave's crystal—he died instantly. 

At his left, the 14th Landgrave grew desperate and ignored the pain and wounds to dive into a rushed escape—a pointless try. Jiyan's chains chased him across space portals, wrapped around his neck, and forced him back to the tree. "Actually, the simplest solution is often the most effective," Jiyan said, then stomped the 14th Landgrave's skull—making it burst into blood and gore.

"Just squash it all."