It’s a bit early for Ling Xiao to tackle the fourth level now, and there’s no need for it.
One must have confidence, but also self-awareness, to live longer and cultivate better.
However, while he had no desire to provoke others, there were always reckless fools in this world who insisted on provoking him.
The red-robed warrior was not about to let himself be humiliated like this.
Being surpassed by Ling Xiao was bad enough, but to have his fellow disciple injured in front of him by someone else was intolerable.
How could he endure it?
More importantly, he was a disciple of Divine Phoenix Academy, while the other was from Qingxu Academy, always rivals, even enemies!
Boom!
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. A blazing red flame suddenly erupted behind the red-robed man.
This warrior, from the Heavenly Dragon Continent, possessed a fire-based martial soul.
And this wasn’t ordinary fire; it was a special flame martial soul called “Lava Fire.”
Though not as powerful as the Twelve Sacred Flames, it was far stronger than common fire.
Combined with his late-stage Liangyi Heaven cultivation, he could dominate the third level without issue.
If the red-robed warrior had a different martial soul, Ling Xiao wouldn’t have acted rashly, as defeating him would require revealing many of his techniques.
After all, the opponent’s cultivation was genuinely strong, and his martial soul was no ordinary one.
Ling Xiao had considered letting Ji Mingkong handle it.
But now, he decided to act himself.
Because the opponent’s martial soul was fire-based.
Though Ling Xiao’s Hell Dragon Fire was sealed, the intense heat from his “Light Inheritance” rivalled the Sun Sacred Flame, far surpassing the Lava Fire’s strength.
If he couldn’t defeat the opponent even with martial soul suppression, Ling Xiao felt he’d have no face to stay here.
In that instant, a blinding light radiated from his body, the surrounding temperature soaring and spreading outward. The narrow pagoda corridor’s temperature skyrocketed, leaving many sweating profusely, some even showing signs of dehydration.
“A mere Lava Fire martial soul, really nothing special!” Ling Xiao said, releasing intense heat as he slowly approached the red-robed man.
The scorching heat seemed almost tangible, distorting the air as waves of it surged toward the red-robed man.
Ling Xiao’s surroundings became a world of extreme heat, making people avoid him in fear.
Feng Yanran, standing nearby, was stunned. She felt like a moth drawn to a flame, her body burning and melting.
An unprecedented fear rose within her.
“Ji Mingkong, do you know what kind of martial soul this is?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“It’s not a martial soul, strictly speaking. It’s just one of his martial soul’s abilities. You haven’t fought Ling Xiao before. If you had, you’d understand his strength is so overwhelming it’s suffocating!” Ji Mingkong replied.
This wasn’t her first time seeing Ling Xiao deal with enemies like this.
Yet each time, she found it somewhat unbelievable.
How could a warrior release heat as intense as the sun?
How was this possible?
The red-robed warrior felt the terrifying heat from Ling Xiao, sweating all over. His martial soul trembled behind him.
It was trembling in fear!
A weakling’s dread of a superior!
Fire martial souls relied on heat for damage.
But Ling Xiao’s Light Profundity, drawn from his Mountains and Rivers martial soul, was far stronger and of a higher level.
It completely suppressed the fire martial soul’s heat.
Like a lion king making a weaker lion tremble among its kind.
Ling Xiao knew his Crimson Sun Power well, thanks to the Light Profundity within his Light and Shadow Profundity.
Because he could suppress the opponent, he used it; otherwise, he wouldn’t have acted.
“Light and Shadow Sword Art: Crimson Sun Power!”
Suddenly, a sword appeared in Ling Xiao’s hand, and he thrust it forward.
The terrifying sword qi carried the scorching Crimson Sun Power, each ray like vicious red sunlight, capable of piercing a body instantly.
“Lava Dragon Roar!”
In a panic, the red-robed warrior’s martial soul flames surged, forming a dragon that merged with his fists.
Though the lava dragon wasn’t large, its terrifying heat matched molten lava.
The dragon opened its jaws, lunging at the sword qi.
“You can’t block it!” Ling Xiao sneered.
The sword qi, infused with Sword Intent, was chillingly sharp.
The Crimson Sun, backed by the Mountains and Rivers Will, was terrifyingly overwhelming.
Combined, the attack was even more formidable.
The red-robed warrior felt as if he’d been thrown onto the blazing sun, or as if thousands of sharp steel needles were piercing his body.
His body trembled, his soul wept.
He was trapped in a hellish sensation.
“No! Impossible! You’re only at the Heavenly Vein cultivation level. How can you unleash such terrifying combat power? What is your martial soul?” the red-robed warrior cried, his mind in chaos.
Even now, he didn’t know Ling Xiao’s martial soul or how someone at the Heavenly Vein level could erupt with such power.
He felt his body and soul might burn or melt at any moment.
“I’ll spare your pathetic life. Don’t let me see you again! Get lost!” Ling Xiao’s cold voice rang out, and the red-robed warrior’s body was blasted away.
No blood flowed.
The terrifying wound was completely cauterised, looking utterly horrifying.
“Cough, cough!” The red-robed warrior knelt on one knee, glaring at Ling Xiao with fear and fury.
“You dare attack me? You dare attack a Divine Phoenix Academy disciple?”
Ling Xiao had heard such words too many times.
He was tired of them.
“Get lost!” With a cold shout, Ling Xiao kicked him from the third level to the pagoda’s base.
“I won’t let you off!” A hysterical scream echoed from below.
Ling Xiao just smirked. The villains in the books he’d read always said such things.
But those villains never succeeded in their revenge, only meeting worse fates.
Feng Yanran and the other Qingxu Academy disciples were stunned.
This guy was too monstrous!
Without revealing his martial soul, he countered the opponent’s special martial soul with just martial techniques and unleashed the rare Sword Intent. How did he cultivate like this?
Ji Mingkong shook her head with a wry smile.
These people hadn’t seen Ling Xiao’s performance at the Martial Arts Festival, or they’d be even more shocked.
In front of this monstrous genius, other so-called prodigies were nothing.
