When Ling Xiao’s soul force entered Wu Xiang’s body, he suddenly discovered that deep within Wu Xiang’s mind, there were two souls.
One, relatively weak, was Wu Xiang’s.
The other, filled with violent energy and extremely powerful, was also Wu Xiang’s.
However, this powerful soul was sealed, as if confined in a cage.
The weaker soul, aside from retaining some memories, was on the verge of dissipating.
Ling Xiao hurriedly enveloped it with his own soul force.
“Kid, you can actually enter here. Are you from the Soul Clan?”
Suddenly, the soul in the cage asked.
“Senior Brother Wu, don’t joke. Of course I’m human; my soul is just relatively strong.”
Ling Xiao said.
“Can you break this seal? If you can, I’ll come back to life!”
The soul said.
Ling Xiao examined the seal’s condition. It was clearly already loosening. With the analytical abilities of his Mountain River Martial Soul, he estimated it would take about half an hour to break it.
But he was a bit worried. The soul in the cage was too ferocious, and there must be a reason it was sealed. If something went wrong, the situation could spiral out of control.
“I have a way, but you must tell me why you were sealed.”
Ling Xiao asked.
“Enough nonsense! Believe me, I’ll kill you!”
“As expected, so violent. But you’re just a soul now. Can you kill me?”
Ling Xiao said disdainfully.
He suddenly recalled a sealing technique from the Divine Seal Catalogue called the “Demon-Binding Seal.”
Strictly speaking, it was a form of martial art, an auxiliary one, capable of sealing a martial artist’s inner demons.
“I’ve got it.”
After studying the Demon-Binding Seal, he realised he didn’t need to fully release the violent soul. Instead, he could add another layer of sealing, slowly releasing the soul within. This way, Wu Xiang wouldn’t become uncontrollably violent in an instant.
“Demon-Binding Seal, activate!”
Ling Xiao released his soul, entering Wu Xiang’s mind, and used the Demon-Binding Seal to reinforce the cage’s seal while releasing a small fragment of the soul, merging it with the weaker soul in his grasp.
Then, his soul left Wu Xiang’s mind and returned to his own body.
From the outside, Wu Xiang’s body began to glow with a deep blood-red light. After a long while, his eyes suddenly snapped open.
The moment Wu Xiang opened his eyes, his gaze became far colder than before.
“Thank you, Junior Brother Ling, for saving me.”
Wu Xiang knelt on the ground.
Though his soul had been extremely weak before, he was aware of what Ling Xiao had done.
He knew clearly that Ling Xiao had saved him.
“It’s great that Senior Brother Wu is alive. What happened? Did Yang Cheng and Li Anle go mad, trying to kill you? And what’s with the sealed soul in your body?”
Ling Xiao asked.
“Let’s talk back at the stone house!”
The two returned to the stone house.
Wu Xiang recounted how he was forced to take a drug. Hearing this, Ling Xiao’s killing intent surged.
Since Yang Cheng and Li Anle were courting death, he wouldn’t hold back.
“Junior Brother Ling, leave their lives to me.”
Wu Xiang said coldly, “You saw the sealed soul in my body, didn’t you? That’s the real me. I won’t say much more, but you did the right thing. I was too violent and cruel before. Releasing it fully would be disastrous.”
“So that’s how it is.”
Ling Xiao nodded thoughtfully. “Alright, their lives are yours. But I need to vent my anger first, or I’ll feel stifled. This time, you nearly died because of me—no, you did die.”
“Do as you wish. Now that part of my past soul has been released, my cultivation will progress rapidly, or rather, it’s just recovering to my former level. Killing those two is no issue, but it’ll take some time.”
Wu Xiang nodded.
“May I ask, Senior Brother Wu, what realm you were at before?”
Ling Xiao asked curiously.
“Peak Celestial Realm—Ten Directions Heaven.”
Wu Xiang paused before answering.
“Good heavens!”
Ling Xiao gasped.
The Celestial Realm has ten levels, with Ten Directions Heaven being the highest. That’s likely a realm only the strongest in the Moonflower Sect could reach.
After all, there aren’t even experts above the Celestial Realm on the Heavenly Dragon Continent.
“Don’t spread this around, got it?”
Wu Xiang said.
“Don’t worry, Senior Brother Wu, I won’t.”
Ling Xiao never imagined he’d unintentionally saved such a formidable figure.
He believed that from today, Wu Xiang’s cultivation would skyrocket, even surpassing the most exceptional geniuses.
After all, he was merely recovering, not cultivating anew.
Having such a figure as a backer was thrilling to think about.
But for now, Ling Xiao’s priority was to vent his frustration by dealing with Yang Cheng and Li Anle.
How to do that was a matter of finesse.
“Ling Xiao, among the outer sect disciples, the top thirty get special privileges. Beyond the top thirty, no matter your rank, the monthly stipend is the same. But within the top thirty, each rank you climb grants an additional mid-grade spirit stone and a spirit pill.”
Wu Xiang said, “So, instead of dealing with Yang Cheng or Li Anle privately, I suggest you challenge them openly!”
“An open challenge?”
“Yes, go to the outer sect hall, find Elder Bai, and submit a challenge letter!”
Wu Xiang nodded. “As long as Elder Bai approves, they can’t refuse!”
“That’s a great idea, though it’s a bit of a hassle.”
Ling Xiao really wanted to confront those two right now.
“It’s a bit troublesome, but the benefits are many. Most importantly, it’s legitimate, and they can’t find any excuse to accuse you.”
Wu Xiang smiled.
“Alright, I’ll follow your advice, Senior Brother Wu. Tomorrow morning, I’ll find Elder Bai.”
The next morning, Ling Xiao went to the outer sect hall and submitted a challenge application to Elder Bai.
“Wait a moment. I need to check if Li Anle and Yang Cheng have any important matters.”
Challenges aren’t approved so easily.
For instance, if Jin Ming is in seclusion and someone submits a challenge, the outer sect hall would surely reject it.
Shortly after, Yang Cheng and Li Anle arrived at the outer sect hall.
After Elder Bai explained the situation, both Li Anle and Yang Cheng readily agreed.
Li Anle was eager to reclaim his lost face, believing he’d lost to Ling Xiao due to underestimating him.
As for Yang Cheng, he could openly teach Ling Xiao a lesson without being scolded by Master Yang. Why would he refuse such a golden opportunity?
“Good. Since both sides accept the challenge, I’ll approve this application.”
Elder Bai signed it with a flourish.
Then he added, “By principle, both parties must offer a wager, typically items or things of equal value.”
“Elder Bai, I’ll offer ten top-grade True Essence Pills as my wager!”
Yang Cheng said.
Top-grade True Essence Pills were the most common spirit pills in the Moonflower Sect, but they were far superior to the high-grade True Essence Pills of the secular world.
Back in the secular world, Ling Xiao had struggled to obtain even a single high-grade True Essence Pill.
“I’ll use this rare treasure weapon as my wager.”
Li Anle’s wager was a long spear, a rare treasure weapon, even better than Ling Xiao’s Snowfall Sword.
Such items were typically used only by martial artists in the Mortal Realm.
Li Anle didn’t use spears himself, so he offered it as a wager.
Though Ling Xiao didn’t use spears either, he could melt it down to forge a new sword.
With the weapon shop in the Mountain River World already unlocked and blacksmiths available for recruitment, this shouldn’t be difficult.
