Chapter Twenty-Seven: Collapse

Drawing upon the power of the Void Crack nexus...
The ultimate secret of the Human Realm!
Erupt!
"Crack..."
"Crack..."
Without warning, the sound of fracturing space echoed through the air.
In Kaido’s slightly excited yet terror-stricken eyes, the eerie purple light radiating from Chu Yi’s Asura pupils illuminated the interior of his body. Accompanied by that sound of shattering space, the entire void crack trembled violently!
Immediately following...
"Boom!"
A web of fractures abruptly spread across the void crack where Chu Yi, Jinbe, Kaido, and the others stood!
"What is happening?"
"Could it be that the clash between the brat and that giant is causing the entire void crack to collapse?"
Witnessing the abnormal precursors right before Chu Yi unleashed the Human Realm's ultimate technique, Jinbe—who was already deeply shocked by the confrontation between Chu Yi and Kaido—was left utterly dumbfounded.
Yet, even while his mind remained somewhat dazed, Jinbe's gaze quickly locked onto Chu Yi.
The reason was simple...
He did not want to miss a single detail of Chu Yi unleashing the Human Realm's ultimate technique!
Because deep down in his heart, Jinbe had a vague intuition that the scene unfolding before his eyes would likely be a sight he would never forget for the rest of his life.
And what Jinbe thought in his heart was precisely what Kaido was thinking as well.
Indeed, during their previous round of combat, Kaido had already tasted the sensation of death once.
It was a pity...
That was not true death!
If it had been true death, how could Kaido have suddenly manifested within the void crack to cross blades with Chu Yi once more?
Therefore, while Jinbe vaguely felt that the scene before him might become unforgettable, Kaido’s internal thought was that when Chu Yi’s Human Realm technique was fully unleashed, it would likely be the moment he could truly taste the flavor of genuine death!
Kaido was devoid of fear toward death...
He relished the sensation of death, the very flavor of dying; otherwise, he would not have been so eager to commit suicide and try every conceivable method to end his life.
Now, with death potentially only a single step away, even though Kaido possessed the ability in this very second to disrupt Chu Yi as he gathered his power, he still made no attempt to stop him.
Yet just as Chu Yi finished gathering his strength, his previously somewhat calm pupils abruptly turned ice-cold and merciless, looking as detached as deities gazing down upon mortal beings struggling in the secular world...
Kaido suddenly regretted it!
Because at that exact moment, the first stage of Chu Yi's Human Realm technique was unleashed!
Which was none other than...

Soul Extraction!
"Hum..."
"Hum..."
As the Human Realm ultimate technique "Soul Extraction" was cast, Chu Yi—temporarily unable to use Devil Fruit abilities—suddenly drifted upward into the void, his body seemingly freed from the pull of gravity as he floated slowly into the mid-air of the void crack.
Following that...
"Whoosh!"
The eerie purple light emanating from the Asura pupils similarly enveloped Chu Yi's body.
As Chu Yi slowly opened his arms within the shroud of purple light and then swung them backward...
Along with a wave of suction spreading toward Kaido, the mighty and powerful Kaido first discovered that he could completely lose control of his own body. Then, he felt a gravitational pull originating from the depths of his soul, slowly dragging him toward Chu Yi's side!
"Is this the power of Asura?"
Realizing he could no longer control his physical body, Kaido’s pupils constricted slightly, instantly recalling the scene of his previous clash with Chu Yi where he had "died" beneath the sword momentum of "Ocean Splitting."
Back then, hadn’t Chu Yi used the ability of the Human Realm to immobilize Kaido's body, leaving him unable to mount a defense?
Right at this moment, Kaido experienced that exact sensation once again!
He felt as though Chu Yi had seized control of his physical vessel, slowly "pushing" him forward.
Yet compared to Chu Yi's previous use of the Human Realm's power, the full eruption of his ultimate technique now undoubtedly made Kaido appear even more powerless to resist!
No matter how he struggled, no matter how much force he exerted, Kaido discovered with despair that he could not reclaim control of his own body.
Watching himself move step by step closer to Chu Yi, the sensation rising from the depths of Kaido's heart was...
He was walking step by step into the embrace of a demon!
"The taste of death, the aura of death, it is... truly, truly magnificent!"
"Yet why?"
"My body is trembling..."
"And why is it..."
"I... I actually want to resist!"
When the shadow of death truly closed in...
When Kaido walked step by step toward the abyss of mortality...
Kaido, one of the future "Four Emperors," suddenly realized that hitherto he had merely been enjoying the thrill dancing on the razor's edge between life and death, rather than truly savoring the essence of death itself!
Because of this realization, Kaido—having now stepped to within half a meter of Chu Yi—struggled desperately and resisted with all his might.
However, in this fleeting span of time, no matter how Kaido resisted, it seemed to be nothing more than a futile effort.
Especially when Chu Yi's icy voice echoed in Kaido's ears once more...
Kaido was no longer far from death!

"Thinking of resisting now?"
"What a pity, Kaido, it is far too late!"
Amidst the reverberating voice...
"Ha!"
With a low shout from Chu Yi, his left hand moved slowly forward, grasping into empty air. A cluster of white radiance abruptly emerged from within Kaido's body, gradually condensing right into the palm of Chu Yi's hand!
What was that?
Without the slightest doubt, it was none other than Kaido's soul!
Soul Extraction, soul extraction...
Just as the name implied, it meant utilizing the peak Human Realm power channeled by the Void Crack nexus to extract the souls of others!
And when the soul residing within Kaido's body was completely condensed in Chu Yi's palm, no matter how formidable Kaido's physical shell might be, his body was reduced to nothing more than a puppet devoid of a soul, posing not a shred of threat anymore.
Even if you, Kaido, are hailed as the strongest living creature in the world, once "Soul Extraction" succeeds...
You must still kneel!
Then, meeting the gaze of Kaido's puppet-like body—its eyes vacant and frozen as if trapped in amber within the void crack—the second step of the Human Realm's ultimate technique commenced!
It was precisely "Soul Shattering"!
However, the "Soul Shattering" of Chu Yi's Human Realm technique differed from its literal definition.
Chu Yi's "Soul Shattering" did not mean taking away another's soul, but rather...
Destroying another's soul entirely!
Therefore, the next moment, one could see Chu Yi slowly raising his left hand—which held the condensed soul of Kaido—and gradually tightening it into a fist with immense force.
When Chu Yi's fist clenched shut with lethal pressure, completely crushing Kaido's soul, even if Kaido possessed an immortal body, with his soul ruthlessly crushed to pieces by Chu Yi, survival in the mortal world was utterly impossible!
And at this very moment, lacking just a hair's breadth...
Truly lacking just that mere fraction!
Kaido's soul, subjected to the compressive force of Chu Yi's palm, was on the verge of shattering completely within Chu Yi's grasp!
Yet precisely as Chu Yi's palm remained tightly closed, just as Kaido's soul was about to be thoroughly crushed...
"Rumble!"
The sound of total collapse suddenly erupted from all around the void crack!
Just as Kaido's soul within Chu Yi's palm was warped and deformed under pressure, hovering on the brink of being completely obliterated...
The void crack, which had seemed as though it would never shatter, finally collapsed entirely, unable to bear the ultimate power of Chu Yi's Human Realm technique!