The nine dragon souls were meant to fully awaken the Ancient Golden Dragon, allowing him to inherit its full combat power.
The nine demon king martial souls were for obtaining the complete legacy of the True Demon Emperor and achieving further evolution.
The twelve holy flame martial souls were for refining more powerful elixirs.
As his cultivation advanced, without suitable flames, high-grade elixirs would be impossible to refine.
He was a greedy warrior, a fact he didn’t deny.
Since today offered a chance to obtain the Dark Flame of Death martial soul, he wouldn’t miss it.
He had already acquired the Three True Flames seed, and with the Dark Flame of Death martial soul, he would have two of the twelve holy flames.
Though far from collecting them all, it wasn’t an unattainable dream.
“It’s indeed the Dark Flame of Death, one of the twelve holy flames, no wonder you’ve suddenly become so strong, but so what!
Demon Eye: Inextinguishable Dark Flame!”
The Inextinguishable Dark Flame was a variant of the Dark Flame of Death, like a father-son relationship.
In terms of strength, the Inextinguishable Dark Flame was inferior, but when used with the Demon Eye, its power matched the Dark Flame of Death.
Most terrifyingly, this flame could burn endlessly, once ignited, it persisted without fuel or air unless extinguished by special means.
The overwhelming black flames clashed with the skeletal hand wreathed in Huo Mozun’s Dark Flame of Death.
Over time, the Dark Flame of Death clearly fell behind.
Huo Mozun’s base strength was too weak, so the Dark Flame of Death martial soul couldn’t unleash its full power.
Many young prodigies in the audience frowned, they had heard of Mo Wushang’s strength but never seen it.
Today, it was astonishing.
Others’ strength could be fathomed, but Mo Wushang’s was elusive.
That Demon Eye was too extraordinary.
Huo Mozun’s face darkened.
Demon Flame Heavenly Venerable, secretly controlling Huo Mozun, looked even grimmer.
He had thought possessing Huo Mozun with the Dark Flame of Death martial soul would easily defeat anyone except Holy Son Ji Mingkong.
But now, he realised he had underestimated these young prodigies.
Especially Mo Wushang.
Mo Wushang was only defending, yet he was already stumped, if he attacked, could they win?
A glint flashed in Demon Flame Heavenly Venerable’s eyes, and Huo Mozun’s aura surged again.
“Skeletal Life-Ending Blade!”
A long bone blade appeared in Huo Mozun’s hand, a demonic blade formed entirely of death energy and souls.
Though not physically real, its power rivalled any tangible treasured blade.
With this blade, Huo Mozun became a cold ghost demon, devoid of emotion, driven only by slaughter.
His sole aim was to kill and destroy everything before him.
“Useless, before my Demon Eye, all is mere illusion!”
Mo Wushang still didn’t attack, sticking to defence, as this was only the second move he’d allowed.
“Demon Eye: Annihilation!”
“Demon Eye: Illusion!”
He unleashed two moves in succession.
The first destroyed all forces around the Skeletal Life-Ending Blade.
The second plunged the entire platform into a strange illusion.
Huo Mozun froze, letting out a horrific scream.
“Bad news, Huo Mozun’s caught in Mo Wushang’s illusion, it’s over, he’s done for,” someone in the audience exclaimed.
They had seen Mo Wushang’s illusions before, opponents were often defeated unknowingly.
“Not necessarily,” Ling Xiao shook his head, “Huo Mozun is special.”
“Special?” Qin Bixue scoffed, seeing nothing special about Huo Mozun.
But the next moment, as Mo Wushang was about to win, a vague humanoid flame of Dark Flame of Death appeared behind Huo Mozun.
It lunged at Mo Wushang with lightning speed.
“Ah!”
Someone gasped, a martial soul attacking independently while its host was trapped in an illusion was unheard of.
Ling Xiao snorted, it was indeed unprecedented, but this wasn’t Huo Mozun’s own martial soul, so its sudden attack on Mo Wushang was unsurprising.
Facing the sudden assault, Mo Wushang was caught off guard.
Yet, the most astonishing thing happened.
The martial soul’s attack passed through Mo Wushang’s body, leaving him unharmed.
“What’s this? Not a real body?”
The audience was even more shocked.
The Mo Wushang on the platform wasn’t real?
Where was the true Mo Wushang?
“Junior Brother Ling, what’s your take?” Lan Yuer asked, puzzled.
“His Demon Eye likely connects to another space, his real body is there, what’s outside is just a projection,” Ling Xiao explained.
“What! Isn’t that invincible?” Dai Yuling asked, shocked.
“Not quite, the projection can’t attack, only defend,” Ling Xiao replied.
Though Mo Wushang’s Demon Eye was uncanny, it couldn’t escape the analysis of Ling Xiao’s Mountain River Martial Soul.
“I see! So his illusion should be wearing off, right?” Lan Yuer nodded, asking further.
“Correct, look, Huo Mozun’s back to normal.”
“Hahaha, Mo Wushang, you’re truly formidable, I underestimated you prodigies, fine, losing to you is no shame, I concede.”
Huo Mozun laughed loudly, then unexpectedly gave up, admitting defeat.
This was Demon Flame Heavenly Venerable’s decision.
He knew he didn’t need to reveal his full strength yet, defeating the warrior with near nine-cauldron luck would suffice.
Perhaps Ji Mingkong.
Perhaps Ling Xiao.
Or even Mo Wushang.
Though they might not face off on the platform, there’d be chances after the match.
Fish should be fattened before eating.
He knew a major upheaval would follow the Martial Arts Festival finals, that would be his moment.
…
Mo Wushang absorbed Huo Mozun’s nine-cauldron luck, his eight cauldrons now fully formed, closing in on Ji Mingkong.
“What was that? All thunder and no rain, why did Huo Mozun just give up?”
“Mo Wushang was too strong, Huo Mozun knew he couldn’t win.”
“No way, his martial soul can separate from his body, that’s the perfect counter to soul techniques.”
“Then I don’t get it, maybe they know each other?”
“Forget it, no point guessing, the fight’s over, let’s watch the next one.”
