Ren Zu, completely transformed into a massive eagle, flew into the air and used his new eyes to locate the enemy who had killed his lover.
His rationality had been lost and he could only think the bare minimum needed to look the killer in their eyes as he picked the to death. Ignoring the various magical spells and arrows shooting through the battlefield, he flew forwards directly to his target.
***
Hamar, through his grid of aura, looked into Ren Zu's irrationality. Using the aura as a conduit for his intuition, he used his own knowledge with Hou's help to identify where his irrationality stems from.
"What do you think? It looks like a complete transformation."
Hou hummed and concluded, "It does appear to be a complete transformation to the body which affects the mind but deep down...it's unlikely the consciousness is affected much."
"So you think there's a chance to bring back his rationality?"
"Hmm," Hou paused for a few moments, "Maybe, the first thing we need to do is change the body to accomodate a functional human mind...then we need to awaken the consciousness."
"Any idea how to do that then? I can use my aura to manipulate the body but the consciousness is your thing; what can you do?" Hamar questioned.
Hou laughed, "It's fine, I have a way to do it. You saw how he awakened, didn't you? It was a lover. Take their corpse and search the essence. Any fragments of memories, those emotional attachments should be able to awaken their consciousness."
Hou added quickly, "Also take in that corpse, it'll cost some causality but the bigger the population, the more the causality. Her consciousness should still be attached to the body for a while."
***
Back to the battlefield, Ren Zu got hammered with spells. Fireballs, lighting strikes, blasts of water, energy and knowledge all bombarded him. His feathers protected his body, though each hit caused one feather to fall out.
This was the biology of the specific eagle he had transformed into. It had incredible defense but it had to sacrifice a feather each hit, and would take years to recover normally.
Still, he continued. He did not try to attack of of the others enemies, his eagle-eyed were still targeted onto one person.
He was an ordinary soldier, born and raised within Yi Sect. He was 9th level hardening but had artifacts which allowed him to take in laws from those around him (with permission) to gain a 11th hardening or higher attack power without using up all of his laws.
Currently, he projected that Ren Zu was flying towards him and him alone; he did not know why. He didn't kill Ren Zu's lover on purpose, it was just another body to his kill count.
He had already told everyone around him to target Ren Zu but nothing stopped the massive eagle. It would only take a minute before it arrived. He activated his artifact and drew upon his comrades powers, "I need Earth Laws!"
He shouted out and in assistance his artifact gathered laws pertaining to Earth. Not only simple "Earth Laws" but rock, dirt, clay, tunnel, digging, shovel, etc...all laws which aligned with earth.
He had various laws and while looking up at Ren Zu's approaching figure he had a choice paralysis while figuring out what laws to use and how.
He bit his lip and squeezed his fists, "aghh" he screamed and stomped into he ground. He ignored using the laws smartly, he needed speed not efficiency.
Earth was seen as sturdy, same with rock...as the most abundant laws he had, this impression of earth he had turned against him. He thought of rocks as hard, so the laws' expression merely strengthened the floor rather than burrow deeper and escape.
Ren Zu swooped in and in one smooth motion, his peak encompassed the enemy...and chomped down. Blood sprayed on the man went limp instantly.
Though, now, he was in the enemy's side and surrounded by friends of the one he had killed. Even without rationality, he knew this is where he would die.
He was satisfied. He would die here. That was his fate.
But...Hamar did not except that fate...he did not accept the causality that would mean he would die here! He motioned his grid of aura and a net appeared around Ren Zu.
Though he had given up, by instinct he flailed. He tried to escape but the aura net kept him captured. Then from it's bindings, aura seeped into the eagles bones.
It pretreated deeply and from within laws were changed and altered, Ren Zu's eagle body shrunk. It morphed. It changed...he opened his eyes to see humanoid hands.
His rationality had returned as he recalled memories of his loved one. "Live on" she said...he steeled his resolve, the aura bindings vanished and Ren Zu looked into his Spirit Stone Soul.
"Laws, what laws do I have?!" He observed it within a moment and with adrenaline pumping through his system, he combined water and fire.
He was mainly a sword-based cultivator before his eagle transformation but now as he transformed back into a human he realised all of his laws had turned into basic elemental laws.
He wasn't an expert but in this case, he knew what to do. Around him, a shield of hot mist and smoke instantly created cover.
Any cultivator would be able to clear or look through it within a moment, but in the second he had gained from it, he used it to activate his Grand Formation Token.
His figure vanished from view, he fell to the ground in a basic hospice. He looked up, and pushed past the nurses asking his condition.
He was going to fight. He knew he was under prepared, he knew he would likely die. But he had little to live for and that was something others couldn't say...
If he could die to protect someone who still had a liver, a child, a family...that was enough.