Chapter 105: Chapter 105: Soul Weapon
"Is this all you’ve got? Pathetic tricks!"
The old man sneered. Like a ferocious tiger descending from the mountains, he charged at the four men, his body stirring up a violent, unstoppable wind.
"Damn it!"
The four men’s expressions turned ugly. He was an Earth Martial Artist of the Third Layer. Although that was seemingly just a single layer higher than them, his strength far surpassed their own, to the point that even with all four of them working together, they were still on the losing end.
"Wang Xuan, we can’t go on like this! I know you still have a trump card. If you don’t use it, all four of us are going to die here today."
Zhou Bing roared, and a giant hammer suddenly appeared in his hand. A halo of light flowed across its surface, radiating a torrential aura.
"Sky Hammer, annihilate!"
Zhou Bing’s body erupted with brilliant light as he pounced like a starving wolf, the giant hammer in his hand surging with astonishingly powerful Profound Qi.
Seeing this, Wang Xuan gritted his teeth. A black short sword appeared in his hand, an incomparably evil mist swirling around it. It transformed into a streak of black light in his hand as he followed closely behind Zhou Bing, stabbing straight at the old man.
"Hmph!" The old man’s expression shifted slightly. "Scram."
His voice was like a crack of thunder as he channeled his Earth Martial Soul to its absolute limit, slapping a palm against the massive hammer. With a deafening DONG, Zhou Bing was sent flying backward, while the old man himself was forced to take three heavy steps back, leaving three deep footprints in the ground.
’This Third-Level Profound Soldier is powerful indeed.’ The old man’s gaze sharpened. Zhou Bing had already used this Sky Hammer that night. If it hadn’t been for such a precious weapon, he would never have let Wang Xuan and his men escape.
At that moment, Wang Xuan arrived behind the old man, his black short sword thrusting from another direction at an incredibly awkward angle.
The black short sword seethed with a sinister, evil aura. He couldn’t tell what grade of Profound Soldier it was, but as it drew near, a profound sense of danger welled up in the old man’s mind.
"Unrivaled Palm!"
Not daring to be careless, he struck out, slamming his palm against the side of the blade. The sword’s piercingly sharp energy nearly tore through his protective qi and sliced into his hand.
’The Wang family and the Zhou family truly live up to their reputation as one of the three great families. Their treasures are endless.’ The old man’s expression was grave. In terms of raw power, he was far superior to Wang Xuan and the other three. However, the Ye family was, after all, a minor family. When it came to precious artifacts, they were still a far cry from the two great families.
"This old bastard actually dared to chase us all by himself! If he hadn’t suddenly broken through and injured us last time, we wouldn’t have had to flee in such a hurry! He’s refused the path to heaven and is insisting on barging through the gates of hell. In that case, let’s kill him!"
Wang Xuan bellowed, and the Black Snake Martial Soul above his head hissed as it lunged forward with savage ferocity.
"Kill!"
Zhou Bing and the others, their eyes filled with savagery, pushed their Martial Souls to the limit and unleashed their most violent attacks.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Facing their combined assault, a cold sneer played in the old man’s eyes. As he defended with all his might, he focused his efforts, unleashing a frenzied assault on Zhou Bing, one of the two strongest among them.
Even with his Third-Level Profound Soldier, Zhou Bing was forced to retreat continuously under the old man’s offensive. After just a few exchanges, his Profound Qi began to falter, unable to keep up.
"Break!"
BANG!
The old man roared and struck out with another full-powered palm. The Profound Qi protecting Zhou Bing’s body shattered instantly. In his haste, he barely managed to raise the Sky Hammer to his chest, narrowly averting disaster. As his own Profound Qi roiled, a trickle of blood escaped the corner of his mouth.
"Die!"
The old man roared and closed in for the kill.
"Zhou Bing, don’t get bogged down fighting him! His goal is to pick us off one by one."
Wang Xuan shouted fiercely, thrusting his black short sword out with reckless abandon to intercept the old man.
"I know," Zhou Bing said coldly, suppressing the roiling blood and qi in his body as he prepared to strike again.
Suddenly—
BOOM!
The situation changed in a flash. In the heat of battle, they had unknowingly moved in front of a thicket of bushes. From within the previously silent foliage, a figure suddenly burst out. He moved like a bolt of lightning, attacking the nearest person, Zhou Bing, with a speed that left no time to react.
"Zhou Bing, watch out!" Wang Xuan screamed.
At that same instant, Zhou Bing sensed the danger behind him and spun around to counterattack.
But it was too late!
BANG!
The figure was as fast as a flash of lightning, slamming a palm into his back. A powerful surge of Profound Qi erupted, and the faint roars of a dragon and tiger seemed to echo through the air. A gaping hole was instantly blown through Zhou Bing’s chest. With a wet THUD, his entire body collapsed to the ground.
Just moments before, he had been a mighty Earth Martial Artist of the Second Layer. Now, in the blink of an eye, he was reduced to a mangled corpse, deader than dead.
"Damn it!" Wang Xuan’s eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. "It’s you... Ye Zhanyun! You’ve been lying in ambush here this whole time! You Ye family... you’re truly despicable!"
This sudden turn of events left Wang Xuan and the two other men completely stunned.
"Hahaha! Despicable? Are we more despicable than your Wang and Zhou families?!" the old man sneered. The instant Ye Zhanyun revealed himself, he spun around like lightning and sent a sweeping palm strike toward Wang Xuan and the other two men.
Still in shock, Wang Xuan only had time to put up a hasty defense. He was sent flying like a ragdoll, crashing heavily against a nearby wall and spewing a mouthful of blood.
The other two men weren’t as lucky. One had his head instantly shattered by the old man’s palm, while the other suffered broken bones and torn ligaments, screaming incessantly as blood sprayed from his body.
In an instant, of the four experts from the Wang and Zhou families, two were dead and two were grievously injured. It was a truly gruesome scene.
The survivors, surprisingly, were Wang Xuan and Wang Cong, both from the Wang family.
"Wang Xuan! Wang Cong! Since you dared to come and slaughter the Ye family, your fate has already been sealed! Now, die!"
The old Ye patriarch barked, giving them no chance to catch their breath as he lunged forward ferociously.
Beside him, Ye Zhanyun also attacked with his full strength, a cold smile on his face.
"This is bad, Fourth Brother! If this continues, we’re both going to die."
Wang Xuan was filled with alarm and fury. A black Pill suddenly appeared in his hand. A savage look flashed across his face before he abruptly tossed it into his mouth.
"Fourth Brother, get out of here! I’ll hold them off. I’ll regroup with you later," Wang Xuan bellowed, suddenly thrusting his sword toward the old Ye patriarch.
"Thinking of leaving? Not so fast!" The old Ye patriarch struck out with his palm. With a loud RUMBLE, both men were forced back several steps, the Profound Qi in their bodies churning violently.
’What?’ A look of astonishment crossed the old Ye patriarch’s face. ’Wang Xuan’s strength just nearly doubled in an instant!’
"Zhanyun, be careful! There’s something strange about that Pill Wang Xuan just took," the old man said, his expression grave.
"Hahaha! What I took was the Third-Grade Explosive Profound Pill! Today, I will have my revenge for my crippled son, Wang Fei!"
Wang Xuan let out a savage laugh. Waves of black energy pulsed from his body. His savage eyes were completely bloodshot. Combined with the short sword in his hand and the Black Snake Martial Soul above his head, he looked like a demon straight out of hell.
The old man and Ye Zhanyun were both startled.
The Third-Grade Explosive Profound Pill was an extremely potent Pill. It could allow any Earth Martial Artist to temporarily boost their strength by an entire level.
Of course, its side effects were also terrifying. If the user didn’t receive timely treatment after the Pill’s effects wore off, a mild case would result in ruptured meridians and chaotic Profound Qi. In a severe case, the user would die on the spot, utterly annihilated.
Unless it was a matter of life and death, no one would dare take such a Pill rashly. Now, Wang Xuan was finally betting it all.
"Die!"
He shot explosively toward Ye Zhanyun.
CLANG!
Wielding the Sky Hammer he had picked up, Ye Zhanyun met Wang Xuan’s attack head-on. He was sent flying back more than ten meters, his feet digging a deep trench into the rocky ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
The powerful backlash of Profound Qi sent the blood and qi within his body into a turbulent frenzy.
"Zhanyun!" the old man roared and leaped into the fray. The two exchanged nearly ten blows in an instant. They were evenly matched; in fact, Wang Xuan even seemed to have a slight advantage.
"Ghostly Evil Sword, unseal!"
Wang Xuan let out a sinister cry. A hazy ripple of Soul Power suddenly erupted from the sinister black short sword and pierced directly into the old Ye patriarch’s Martial Soul.
PFFT!
The old Ye patriarch’s face went white as he spat out a mouthful of blood, the aura of his Martial Soul fluctuating violently.
"A Soul Soldier!" he exclaimed in shock.
A Soul Soldier was a type of weapon even more powerful than a Profound Soldier. The difficulty of forging one was nearly insurmountable. It usually appeared identical to a Profound Soldier, but once unsealed, it could directly attack a Martial Artist’s Martial Soul with astonishing power.
For a moment, Wang Xuan was a force to be reckoned with, single-handedly holding off both the old Ye patriarch and Ye Zhanyun.
Seeing his chance, Wang Cong, who had been fleeing, turned back and rejoined the fray, launching frequent sneak attacks on Ye Zhanyun and his father.
The father and son were suddenly plunged into an extremely dangerous situation.
"Grandfather! Father! Attack his Shanzhong, Jiuwei, and Juque acupoints! Hit all three, and the effect of the Explosive Profound Pill will be broken!"
Suddenly, a clear voice called out. They turned to see Ye Xuan standing calmly atop a large tree.
"Ye Xuan! You’re here!" Wang Xuan was both shocked and delighted. "Hahaha! Oh, heavens, are you giving me this chance to avenge my son?!"
"Fourth Brother, forget about what’s happening here! Go kill that little bastard Ye Xuan! Then come back and help me finish off this old Ye family bastard!"
"Alright!" Wang Cong broke away from the battle and locked his sights on Ye Xuan.
Seeing this, Ye Batian and Ye Zhanyun grew frantic and shouted, "Xuan’Er, run!" Both of them lunged toward the heavily injured Wang Cong at the same time.
"Your opponent is me." But Wang Xuan wasn’t about to let them have their way. He laughed sinisterly, unleashing a flurry of strikes with his Ghostly Evil Sword, fighting with his life on the line to hold them back.
In a flash, Wang Cong was at Ye Xuan’s side. He brought his palm down, sneering, "Little brat, today I will avenge the Wang family! Die!"
Seeing Wang Cong’s palm striking down, the hearts of Ye Batian and Ye Zhanyun sank. Roaring in fury, they attacked frantically, trying to break through Wang Xuan’s blockade. But Wang Xuan, empowered by the Explosive Profound Pill and aided by his Ghostly Evil Sword, a Soul Soldier, fought with suicidal desperation, making it impossible for them to break free in time.
Ye Zhanyun gritted his teeth and, ignoring the risk of injury, suddenly slapped his palm against Wang Xuan’s Shanzhong acupoint.
BANG!
Wang Xuan’s demonic form shuddered violently. The Profound Qi within him erupted into a manic frenzy, and blood gushed from his mouth and nose.
