“The Demonic Flame Heavenly Venerable can’t dominate the Yuehua Sect single-handedly. After all, he’s just a newly promoted inner sect elder, and there are plenty stronger than him.”
Ling Xiao knew they were gathering strength to kill him, but he also needed time to prepare for a sudden strike.
If he could take them down in two or three moves, that would be ideal. Otherwise, if the Demonic Flame Heavenly Venerable was alerted, though the Guanghan Heavenly Venerable would also appear, he’d lose any chance to kill these two.
“Attack!”
In an instant, Wang Feng and Xu Ying moved simultaneously.
They unleashed the strikes they’d been preparing.
Pfft!
Wang Feng, who had just leaped forward, was suddenly thrown back, a sharp flying sword lodged in his neck.
Ling Xiao, who hadn’t used his Sword Control Technique in a while, hadn’t abandoned this deadly move.
The technique prioritised speed, power, and surprise to the extreme.
Though Wang Feng was a Mortal Realm first-level martial artist, at such close range—only four or five metres—he had no chance to react.
The high-grade treasure-level Tiangang Flying Sword carried a chilling, icy aura that instantly engulfed Wang Feng’s body.
To ensure Wang Feng’s death in one strike, Ling Xiao used the Guanghan True Essence he’d recently acquired.
Though only a trace was attached to the sword, the cold was still terrifying.
This caused him some internal injury.
But with his cultivation, such an injury was negligible.
Seeing Wang Feng’s gruesome death, Xu Ying, who had lunged forward, abruptly halted and turned to flee toward the formation’s flaw.
If Ling Xiao could kill Wang Feng in one move, he could surely kill her just as easily.
But she didn’t want to die—couldn’t die.
While fleeing, she pulled out a token and recited its incantation.
It was the Demonic Flame Heavenly Venerable’s “Demonic Flame Token,” which would alert him once activated.
Yet Xu Ying couldn’t escape death.
A terrifying force struck from behind, hitting her body. She felt as if something was tearing her apart.
Her body exploded in an instant.
“This Destruction move is truly terrifying.”
Looking at Xu Ying, reduced to ash, Ling Xiao drew a sharp breath. The power of “Destruction” was astonishing.
He’d only tested it, not expecting to kill her so easily.
“Collect!”
Seeing a ninja spirit and a martial soul about to escape, Ling Xiao waved his sleeve, collecting Wang Feng and Xu Ying’s martial souls.
Their souls weren’t what he needed, so he devoured them, using them as nourishment for his other martial souls.
Thus, aside from his Mountains and Rivers Martial Soul, his five other martial souls—Ghost Ship, Blood Shadow, Thunder Bear, Dark Cloud, and Giant Sword—all condensed into physical forms, reaching the third stage of Complete Soul.
Only at this stage could a martial soul fully unleash its potential, though its strength still depended on the martial artist’s own power.
Beyond Complete Soul was Soul Departure.
Residual Soul—Complete Soul—Soul Departure—Wandering Soul—Thunder Tribulation—Divine Soul.
These were the six stages of martial soul development, each divided into several phases.
Ling Xiao’s five martial souls were now at the third stage of Complete Soul—Physical Form, the final phase of Complete Soul.
To reach Soul Departure, he’d need to cultivate through nine phases: one breath, one minute, one quarter-hour, one hour, one day, one week, one month, one season, one year.
Martial soul cultivation was no simple task.
Only by progressing alongside one’s cultivation could it truly unleash its full combat potential.
Hm?
Ling Xiao’s expression suddenly changed, and he quickly sat cross-legged.
Two terrifying auras descended upon the Guanghan Palace simultaneously.
One was the Demonic Flame Heavenly Venerable, the other the Guanghan Heavenly Venerable.
One blazing hot, the other icy cold.
This made Ling Xiao’s body extremely uncomfortable.
“The Heavenly Human Realm is incredible. They haven’t even acted, and I’m already this uncomfortable. If they did, it’d be earth-shattering.”
Ling Xiao clenched his fists, realising he needed to keep striving, or he’d always suffer like this.
“Guanghan, you dare block me?” the Demonic Flame Heavenly Venerable demanded, glaring at her.
“Demonic Flame, you trespassed in my Guanghan Palace without regard for me. Who else should I stop?” The Guanghan Heavenly Venerable was inwardly shocked. She hadn’t expected Ling Xiao, a mere outer sect disciple, to have such terrifying combat power, capable of killing two Mortal Realm first-level martial artists.
When she arrived, she sensed the lingering killing intent in the air, with the two martial artists’ auras not yet fully dissipated.
But since Ling Xiao held the Guanghan Token, she couldn’t allow the Demonic Flame Heavenly Venerable to act over this.
“Guanghan, think carefully. This boy killed two of my disciples, one of them my direct disciple. If I don’t kill him, I can’t quell my rage!” The Demonic Flame Heavenly Venerable seemed determined to act, regardless of her interference.
“Senior Guanghan, those two not only exploited the flaws in the Guanghan Palace’s formation to sneak in and cultivate, but when I confronted them, they tried to kill me. I had no choice but to act,” Ling Xiao said loudly, neither servile nor arrogant.
He had to give the Guanghan Heavenly Venerable a reason to intervene.
If someone intruded into her guarded forbidden area and tried to kill the token holder, she’d lose all credibility if she didn’t act.
“Did you show the Guanghan Token?” she asked.
“I did,” Ling Xiao nodded.
He wasn’t afraid of her digging deeper. The incident had happened less than a quarter-hour ago, and certain treasures could recreate the scene.
Though it would expose his Sword Control Technique, that didn’t matter.
The technique was difficult but not impossible to learn, so there was no need to hide it.
His Mountains and Rivers Martial Soul was the only thing he absolutely couldn’t reveal; everything else was fair game.
The Guanghan Heavenly Venerable took out a blank scroll and tossed it into the air. Moments later, cold air infused the scroll, vividly displaying the earlier events.
“Demonic Flame, what do you have to say now?” The Guanghan Heavenly Venerable was fully justified. She could even submit this to the sect’s higher-ups for fair judgement.
Then, the Demonic Flame Heavenly Venerable would face trouble.
“Good! Very good! Ling Xiao, you’re ruthless!” The Demonic Flame Heavenly Venerable glared at Ling Xiao coldly. He hadn’t expected a mere Martial Vein Realm martial artist to bring him such humiliation.
Despite acting personally twice, he couldn’t kill him. Infuriating.
With that, he turned into a shadow and left, not even bothering with Xu Ying and Wang Feng’s bodies.
The Guanghan Heavenly Venerable sighed in relief.
Truth be told, if possible, she really didn’t want to confront the Demonic Flame Heavenly Venerable.
