The moment Sylph's hand touched Yuming's Space Ring, the Runes inscribed on its surface activated, restricting Sylph inside a Complete Confinement Array where he couldn't so much as blink.
The Space Ring twisted slightly on Yuming's finger, activating a second Array that heated up the space within the Confinement Array. Beads of sweat formed on Sylphs face, realizing that he had just made a terrible mistake.
He tried to move away from Yuming, but the Confinement Array held him perfectly in place, the heat intensifying until the cheap metal armor cooked him from the inside like a lobster in a pot. The armor started to bend and fold under the heat, its aluminum-like properties causing it to melt before falling apart.
The scorching liquid metal burned Sylph's skin, making him want to scream in pain, but he still couldn't move. Tears formed in his eyes as he clicked the "I'm stuck" button on his System Panel, but he was horrified when it said he was still in combat.
He scrolled through the pain and turned the pain sensitivity function down to zero, finally relieving himself of the burning sensation. He watched as a third Array activated, transferring the heat inside of his own body rather than allowing him to burn alive.
He promptly exploded into hundreds of pieces, the peak Golden Core Realm completely useless in such a situation. Even his Heavenly Core, which was supposed to be extremely durable and solid, didn't survive the explosion and shattered.
Sylph respawned in the center of Blue Moon City, still rubbing his body as he regretted ever raising the pain sensitivity so high.
It was initially set to less than 1% pain, so that people could get the feel the unique pang of death without being overwhelmed or deterred from playing, but Sylph had forgone that and turned it up to 100%, wanting to get the full experience of a Cultivation World.
It was a move that he had to check many "I agree" boxes and even sign a contract for, but Sylph didn't mind. He was a thrill-seeker, and possibly a masochist.
Being a young man in his twenties and having been through a few painful experiences in his lifetime, Sylph thought that he could handle any pain that the game could throw at him. He was wrong.
That hurt. From now on, I'm going to keep it at 30%, that should be enough.
If Sylph's System could talk, it probably would have berated him for being stupid.
***
"You don't mind if I take these corpses, right?" William asked the Mayor of Blue Moon City with a calm smile, fully knowing that he was in control of the situation.
The Mayor smiled politely, "Of course, but I would love for you to come with me for a moment first."
William looked at the Mayor, whose expression seemed very calm until he noticed a tiny bead of sweat forming on his forehead. He silently stared at the Mayor for a while, watching as the sweat rolled down his cheek and dripped from his chin.
"Is that so?" he simply said. William had no intention of going with the Mayor, who was clearly trying to stall him for some reason. He wanted to go back to Carl, Yuming, and the others, but William didn't want to risk their futures if they were ever away from him.
It was better to remain a lone criminal, especially since Filipe planned on returning to the Sect afterwards. If Filipe died because of William's actions, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself easily.
The Mayor scratched his head and looked to the sky awkwardly, but then his expression formed a smile.
At the same time as the Mayor smiled, William's 359 degree vision spotted a Cultivator flying in from almost directly behind him at speed close to the peak of the Soul Formation Realm. It quickly became obvious that this was what the Mayor was waiting for.
William turned around and looked at the approaching figure with a light smile, secretly checking the Array Wheel stored under his cloak to make sure it was still working properly. It couldn't hold William's Tier 6 Arrays, but it managed to store five improved Complete Arrays.
Before he came too close, the Cultivator stopped in midair and held his hands up high as if he was submitting to the police in William's old World. His face was one that William didn't recognize, but it was one he would never forget.
For the man's eyes shone with a radiating white light that burned an image directly into William's mind.
"Hello, I am Goddess Lufeyra's Divine Representative, and you've committed a very, very, grave sin."