Chapter 169: Chapter 169: The Final Winner
He never would have expected that Ye Xuan, so young and only a Martial Master Second Layer, could also be such a powerful Soul Refiner.
To be able to erase and even intercept the Soul Power on his Earth Profound Stone, Ye Xuan’s Soul Power had to have far surpassed the ordinary First Grade. It had to be at least at the Peak of First Grade, if not Second Grade.
At this thought, the killing intent in Mosen’s heart intensified. A black, illusory Martial Soul that had reached Three-Stars appeared above his head. In that instant, he stopped holding back and unleashed his strongest strike.
An aura from the Martial Soul, as vast as an ocean, instantly pressed down on Ye Xuan. The immense power was like a great mountain, threatening to crush him entirely.
The immense drain on his Martial Soul made his face even paler. But even if this strike drastically worsened his injuries, he absolutely could not let this kid live.
"Die!"
With a furious roar, Mosen brought the soul weapon in his hand crashing down.
"A mere soul weapon, and you think you can harm me?"
A derisive smile touched the corners of Ye Xuan’s mouth.
His eyes suddenly spun like kaleidoscopes, and an inexplicably potent wave of Soul Power radiated outward.
Mosen’s ferocious expression abruptly froze, a flicker of confusion passing through his vicious eyes.
If Mosen had been at his peak, with his Peak of Second Grade Soul Power and the strength of a Tier Four Celestial Martial Artist, it wouldn’t have been so easy for Ye Xuan to affect him.
But Mosen was already severely injured, possessing less than thirty percent of his peak strength. As this wave of Soul Power swept over him, his mental defenses instantly collapsed, leaving his mind in a daze.
’What’s happening?’ Mosen felt his entire body go limp, overcome with an urge to fall asleep.
"Sleep... sleep... you are heavily injured. Just rest a little, and you’ll be fine. Just go to sleep..."
A voice even echoed in his subconscious, like a lullaby, constantly feeding him these suggestions.
But Mosen was a Peak of Second Grade Soul Refiner, after all. Amid the powerful hypnosis and weariness, some part of his mind sensed that something was wrong.
Suddenly, Mosen jolted, and clarity began to return to his dazed eyes.
Seeing this, Ye Xuan knew Mosen was about to regain his senses. He instantly unleashed the Devouring Martial Soul from his Dantian.
VMM!
The moment the black Devouring Martial Soul appeared, an inexplicable chill permeated the cave.
Mosen’s Three-Stars Martial Soul had been imperious and domineering, but the instant the Devouring Martial Soul appeared, it seemed to transmit a sense of panic and bewilderment.
A Martial Soul, being the manifestation of a Martial Artist’s spiritual essence, shouldn’t possess its own emotions.
But in Ye Xuan’s perception, Mosen’s powerful Three-Stars Martial Soul, upon encountering his Devouring Martial Soul, was indeed experiencing a terror akin to a subject meeting their emperor, or an antelope seeing a lion.
At the same time, a powerful, ravenous hunger from the Devouring Martial Soul flooded into Ye Xuan’s mind.
Ye Xuan’s will shifted. WHOOSH! As if it had received a command, the Devouring Martial Soul lunged forward, viciously enveloping Mosen’s Three-Stars Martial Soul.
A cold shiver ran through Mosen. In that instant, the haze in his eyes cleared completely.
’This is bad!’
Realizing his situation, he was scared out of his wits. His Three-Stars Martial Soul was broadcasting waves of terror, feeling as if it were on the verge of shattering.
Mosen didn’t know exactly what was happening, but when he saw his own Martial Soul enveloped and being devoured by the aura of another, he knew he was in deep trouble.
’Ye Xuan’s Martial Soul is this bizarre? It’s clearly just a low-grade One-Star Martial Soul, yet it can envelop my Three-Stars Martial Soul and devour its power?’
Suddenly, Mosen threw his head back and roared, "You little bastard, I—!"
He got no further than the word "I" before he stopped abruptly. Mosen’s pupils contracted, his face turned ashen, and with a SPURT, he coughed up a mouthful of black blood essence as his Soul Power scattered.
His powerful Three-Stars Martial Soul, wrapped within Ye Xuan’s Devouring Martial Soul, was devoured in an instant, as easily as a soft piece of cake.
A sense of exhaustion, from having the very essence of his Soul Power drained away, suddenly washed over his entire body. His mind went completely blank.
Seeing his attack succeed, Ye Xuan suddenly flicked his wrist.
ZING!
The Xuan-Annihilating Flying Dagger, already hidden in his sleeve, shot out like a streak of light, heading straight for Mosen’s head.
His mind reeling, he could only watch helplessly as the streak of light struck his head, which burst apart with a loud CRACK, like a smashed watermelon.
In his final moments, Mosen felt regret for the first time. But it was far too late for that.
With Mosen dead, Ye Xuan calmly retrieved the Xuan-Annihilating Flying Dagger and quickly sat down cross-legged.
Within his Dantian, the Devouring Martial Soul began to swell, having just consumed Mosen’s Three-Stars Martial Soul. Combined with the vast amount of Profound Beast Soul Thought it had absorbed earlier, an invisible halo started to form around it.
Ye Xuan was stunned. ’This invisible halo... it’s clearly a sign of the Devouring Martial Soul breaking through to Two-Stars.’
He had never expected that his Devouring Martial Soul could not only absorb the Soul Thoughts of dead Profound Beasts but could also devour the Martial Souls of other Martial Artists and use the absorbed power to break through on its own.
In his past life as an Eighth Grade Soul Emperor, he had never heard of a Martial Soul that could advance like this.
A powerful energy surged, and a faint red border began to form around the Devouring Martial Soul.
But Ye Xuan could feel that the power absorbed by the Devouring Martial Soul wasn’t quite enough. There was a sense of it not being fully satisfied.
Ye Xuan knew that even without an injection of new power, the Devouring Martial Soul could still break through to Two-Stars, but the resulting level would be imperfect.
The fact that so many Profound Beast Soul Thoughts, plus a Three-Stars Martial Soul, were still not enough for a direct breakthrough to Two-Stars left Ye Xuan utterly shocked.
Just then, Ye Xuan’s gaze fell upon the nearby Earth Dragon Profound Beast, and his eyes lit up.
He broke through the soul array Mosen had laid down and walked over to the Earth Dragon Profound Beast. Instantly, the immense Soul Thought left behind by the dead creature swarmed into his body.
With this new influx of energy, the star ring around Ye Xuan’s Devouring Martial Soul was finally, perfectly formed.
Two brilliant, dark-red rings now pulsed around the perimeter of the Devouring Martial Soul.
After devouring so much Soul Thought and Mosen’s Three-Stars Martial Soul, his Devouring Martial Soul had finally advanced to Two-Stars.
’A dark red star ring.’
The colors of a Martial Soul’s star rings were endlessly varied, but a few specific colors were exceedingly rare.
The first was the red star ring. Its appearance signified that the Martial Soul had advanced by absorbing Soul Power that was a perfect match for it.
The deeper the shade of red, the more perfect the compatibility.
For example, if a Martial Artist had a Gale Wolf Martial Soul implanted by a Soul Refiner, the star ring formed from absorbing the Soul Crystal of a High Tier Gale Wolf would be red.
This color was extremely rare because such perfect compatibility allowed the Martial Soul’s full power to be unleashed.
Ye Xuan had never been sure about the true attribute of his Devouring Martial Soul, assuming it to be a type of dark-attribute Martial Soul.
’Now I finally understand. My Devouring Martial Soul can only transform by devouring the Soul Thoughts of Profound Beasts or the Martial Souls of other Martial Artists. It must be a soul-type, life-bound Martial Soul.’
Beyond the red star ring, the second special color was silver.
A silver star ring indicated that the cultivator had absorbed a Soul Crystal at the very limit of their own capacity, causing the silver to overwrite the Martial Soul’s original color.
The third was the golden star ring.
The golden star ring was similar to the silver one but far more formidable. It meant the Martial Artist had absorbed a Soul Crystal that far surpassed their own level, causing the ring to shift from silver to an even more terrifying gold.
The formation of such a ring was incredibly perilous, indicating the cultivator had clawed their way back from the brink of death. One careless mistake, and the violent, terrifying Soul Power within the Soul Crystal would have resulted in the absorber’s demise.
Golden star rings were the rarest of all on the Celestial Profound Continent. Their appearance signified that their owner was a heaven-defying Martial Artist.
After his Devouring Martial Soul advanced, Ye Xuan extracted the Soul Crystal from the body of the Earth Dragon Profound Beast.
Surging waves of Earth Soul Power emanated from the Tier Four Soul Crystal, slowly stirring the Earth Martial Soul within Ye Xuan’s heart aperture.
’My Earth Martial Soul is of the Earth Element, and this Tier Four Earth Dragon Profound Beast is clearly also an Earth Element creature. They’re a perfect match.’
Ye Xuan was delighted, but he knew that with his Earth Martial Soul currently at the lowest One-Star level, absorbing a Tier Four Soul Crystal would be incredibly dangerous.
But after searching for so long, this Earth Dragon Soul Crystal was the most suitable one he had found for his Earth Martial Soul.
The other Soul Crystals he’d found were either too weak or incompatible.
Giving up on it was out of the question.
After a moment of careful thought, Ye Xuan finally devised a plan. He quickly set up the Ten Directions Soul Guarding Array in the cave, plucked the Soul Nourishing Fruit, and sat cross-legged within the array before swallowing the fruit in a single gulp.
As the crimson Soul Nourishing Fruit entered his stomach, a stream of pure Soul Power was instantly released into his body.
Ye Xuan activated the Formless Soul Skill and slowly began to absorb the Soul Power.
「Three days later.」
Ye Xuan had finally absorbed every last bit of Soul Power from the Soul Nourishing Fruit. His own Soul Power broke through to Mid-Third Grade in one fell swoop.
’This Soul Nourishing Fruit really lives up to its name as a natural treasure.’
Ye Xuan marveled inwardly. With his Soul Power breaking through to Mid-Third Grade, his strength had once again increased dramatically.
A Martial Artist at the Martial Master Second Layer who possessed Mid-Third Grade Soul Power—if word of this got out, countless Soul Refiners would be left in shock.
Typically, a Soul Refiner’s Martial Dao cultivation was always far superior to their soul refining cultivation. A case like Ye Xuan’s was simply unprecedented.
With his Soul Power enhanced, Ye Xuan finally took out the Tier Four Earth Dragon Profound Beast’s Soul Crystal once more.
He guided a wisp of the Soul Crystal’s power, allowing it to quietly enter his mind.
BOOM!
His body shuddered violently. An expression of immense pain twisted his features as his Soul Sea raged like a tempest-tossed ocean.
